Up in the Air - Life's what you make it

Up in the air is a film I've been looking forward to since I saw the trailer (although I swear it was called something different), It just connected straight away. I later learned that it was directed by Jason Rietman which only increased my anticipation. Hes been involved in two well received films ('Thank you for smoking' and 'Juno') already and clearly is a man who picks his projects well. In fact I really should sit down and watch both those films properly and not just catch parts of each now and again. That said, they do capture my attention whenever they appear on the screen.

This film is no different. It engages the viewer through it's simple story telling and comedy moments. It's been touted as a romcom, but such simple genre pigeonholing does not do it justice and would probably scare off too many viewers. Because beneath the story there a lot of messages and things to make you think. It's a story about how people live their lives and how one man's milk is another man's mustard (is that even the saying???) Moments of doubt are not always a call to change anything.

All this is told from the point of view of an 'emotionally detached' man (George Clooney, playing himself if you ask me. Is he emotionally detached??) who flies round the US firing people for a living. That in itself provides most of the comedy moments with some fabulous cameos. Plus if you've been fired, replaced, removed then you will get some great mileage from the crap that comes out of Clooneys mouth. That's when he's not delivering killer lines like 'I'm not racist, I stereotype. It's faster'.

All in all a great movie. But not a romcom, a lifecom. Jason Rietman = Kevin Smith with broader appeal and a much cooler Richard Curtis.