Gauging Up In The Air

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A guy I've known for a while and who knows how to write -- he calls himself Marlowe -- has seen Jason Reitman's Up In The Air (Paramount) at a recent test screening. (Two weeks ago in the L.A. suburb of Westlake Village, he says.) I've spoken to him and believe he's real. The George Clooney-Vera Farmiga film will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival and open I-don't-know-when in the fall. Here's his review:

"Let me begin by saying that this summer has been a bust. The only highlights being smaller films like Moon and The Hurt Locker. The major tentpoles have all had problems. Even one of the better ones like Star Trek has some glaring plot problems. So when something like Up In The Air comes around it restores my faith in film.

"This is only Reitman's third film and he's showing such a level of confidence here that it's almost scary. Where does he go from here? UITA is going to be on everyone's Ten-Best list, and Clooney will be nominated for Best Actor. Clooney has never been so good. In fact, I feel he was born to play this character, a charmingly aloof business-track smoothie called Ryan Bingham.

"This is the Clooney who dashes around Italy on a motorbike with an Italian lap-dancer strapped to his back. This is a character Clooney was born to play, always impeccably dressed, meticulous in his words, basically a throwback to the great stars of yesteryear. In the film he plays a professional whacker...yup, the big companies fly Clooney around when they don't have the balls to fire a long time employee and he's good at it. He's got it down to a science.

"And he lives his life up in the air. He has no attachments, he has an empty apartment, he's a stranger to his family, nothing tethers him to this world... and that's the way he likes it. His only goal in life is to accumulate enough air miles so he can get the top secret super-platinum card given to you by the pilot himself.

"Of course, a complication arises. Clooney/Bigham's way of life is threatened when a young female whipper-snapper (Anna Kendrick) strolls into the office and comes up with a way to save the company loads of money by grounding Clooney and the staff of flying assholes whose job it is to fire you. The solution: fire people by web-conference, which is the next level of demeaning. Clooney freaks at the notion of not being able to accumulate his air miles and, in a great scene, he completely schools the young Ivy-league girl on why firing people over a web camera will not work.

"Clooney is masterful in this scene. Cary Grant crossed with Warren Beatty. He's amazing to watch. At the heart of the film is the notion of what drives us in life and what's most important to us as human beings. Clooney is a superficial jerk who meets a superficial lady (Vera Farmiga), and they strike up a very modern relationship. They have palpable chemistry in the film. They meet all over America in swanky hotel rooms with no strings attached. I don't want to spoil the film but by the end Clooney's character wants more from life and from the girl. Although he may be too late in making these needs known.

"I saw the film two weeks ago, and I still haven't been able to shake it. It was a test screening but it was a near perfect film, except for one minor dream sequence which was a little on the nose. In the film, Clooney says he's crisscrossed the world so many times that he could've gone to the moon. Well, you can guess what the dream sequence is: Clooney dressed like an old-timey astronaut floating up through buildings in downtown Omaha. It's trippy but felt out of character for the film.

"The film tackles all the big questions of life, prime among them: What is the meaning of life? It's relevant because it deals with corporate downsizing. There's so many levels to the film and I don't want to spoil to much. Basically, UITA is an absolutely amazing film. Love it and can't wait to see it again. As a former Montrealer, it's great to see the Montreal-born Reitman hitting it out of the park or, in hockey parlance, 'scoring a hat trick.'

"Oh, and there's a great ass-shot in the film....astounding."

Update: As I told Drew McWeeny a little while ago, I trust that this review is legit. I know the name of the guy who wrote the review, I have his phone number and I've spoken to him. He's told me he's a screenwriter and he sounds cool over the phone. I know him for having liked his writing before and especially enjoyed a savage review he sent me last year of Hancock. I don't think he's a plant. On top of which I've read about half of the Up In The Air screenplay and thought it was quite good.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on August 4, 2009 at 9:10 AM

comment #1

rosengje says ...

The screenplay for this was absurdly good. Vera Farmiga plays the love interest and Anna Kendrick plays the corporate threat. Makes more sense with the ages.

Posted by rosengje at August 4, 2009 9:54 AM

comment #2

prairie_oysters says ...

Mmm...

A strong whiff of chlorophyll coming off of this review

Posted by prairie_oysters at August 4, 2009 9:56 AM

comment #3

Chase Kahn says ...

That sounds fabulous -- Clooney going Thornhill/Robie on us.

"Let me begin by saying that this summer has been a bust. The only highlights being smaller films like Moon and The Hurt Locker. The major tentpoles have all had problems."

"Public Enemies" wipes the floor with "Moon", whatever floats your boat, I guess.

Posted by Chase Kahn at August 4, 2009 9:59 AM

comment #4

gradystiles says ...

rosengje, you're correct. Kendrick is the young, corporate threat. Wells' source got the actresses switched.

Posted by gradystiles at August 4, 2009 10:01 AM

comment #5

austin111 says ...

Moon was a well-acted BORE!!! I hope that's no indication for what this will be. Clooney is the only real movie star we have right now, in the purest sense of that word. So, yeah, he could be nominated for sure.

Posted by austin111 at August 4, 2009 10:03 AM

comment #6

Floyd Thursby says ...

I hope we're talking Vera's ass and not George's.

Posted by Floyd Thursby at August 4, 2009 10:06 AM

comment #7

markj says ...

The Hurt Locker and Public Enemies are the only good films this summer.

If Vera's ass is on display conside a ticket sold for this film.

Posted by markj at August 4, 2009 10:15 AM

comment #8

Drew McW says ...

This guy you've known for a while peddled that same review to at least six other sites over the last week. Glad he finally found someone willing to publish what smells to me like a pre-festival plant of the highest order.

I'm curious how well you really know him, Jeff, or if you just said that to add legitimacy to an anonymous review. In this case, having seen this thing trade hands so many times before publication, pardon me for being wildly suspicious of the author's motives.

Posted by Drew McW at August 4, 2009 10:18 AM

comment #9

Sabina E says ...

I just got a copy of the screenplay in PDF, I'm very excited about reading it. I'm pumped that the movie got a good review.

Posted by Sabina E at August 4, 2009 10:42 AM

comment #10

p.Vice says ...

No doubt Sandy Kane will be thrilled to read this review.

Posted by p.Vice at August 4, 2009 10:50 AM

comment #11

MilkMan says ...

"I saw the film two weeks ago, and I still haven't been able to shake it."

That must suck.

Nothing's worse than not being able to tuck into your morning bowl of Lucky Charms because you can't keep your hand steady due to the persistent flashbacks of George Clooney sitting in first class.

Sounds like this guys is suffering from PTSD.

My suggestion is that he be prescribed 20 mg of Lexapro with maybe a Klonopin 5 mg chaser.

I know it's hard, but many people have this reaction to Jason Reitman. Actually, it all started with Ivan, for who the term "The Reitman Syndrome" was coined. My father had to undergo almost two years of hardcore cognitive therapy to get over the experience of seeing Meatballs. "It reached depths of my soul that I didn't even know I had," my father said after the movie, as we shared a large pepperoni pie at the Straw Hat Pizza on Van Nuys Blvd. Soon after that night, my father divorced my mother, moved to Solvang, met and fell in love with a waiter named Burl, who worked at Anderson's Split Pea Soup. Sometimes I visit my father and Burl, and when I get a moment alone with him, I ask my father if he ever thinks about the night we saw Meatballs. He gets this far away look in his eyes, tries to hold back the tears. "It just doesn't matter," is what he always says to me.

Posted by MilkMan at August 4, 2009 10:57 AM

comment #12

Gabriel says ...

I was going to say things like "it sounds ATROCIOUS", "anonymous people flipped for "Juno" way back when", "definitely a botanical vibe coming off the review", yada yada yada....

But I think MilkMan's anecdote sums up my reaction best.

Posted by Gabriel at August 4, 2009 11:23 AM

comment #13

Jeffrey Wells says ...

Wells to McWeeny: I didn't grow up with the writer in question but I know him well enough in that I've read and enjoyed his writing in the past. I particularly enjoyed a very savage takedown of Hancock that he sent me last year. He says he writes screenplays and is married. I've spoken to him, and my head and my gut tell me he's a guy who probably actually saw Up In The Air in Westlake Village two weeks ago. I don't think he 's a plant but believe otherwise if you're so inclined. He says he sent the review simultaneously to three sites, mine included -- not six. Oh, and I read the UITA screenplay a few months back and very much liked it. I might be lying, however, in making this claim. Nobody knows anything. Q: "Is everyone in the world corrupt?" A: "I don't know everyone."

Posted by Jeffrey Wells at August 4, 2009 11:43 AM

comment #14

Drew McW says ...

He's been peddling the review for well over a week. He didn't send it simultaneously because he adjusted the language to each site to try and flatter them into publishing it. Ask yourself why he was so determined to get this review out there that he kept sending it and sending it until it finally got picked up by someone.

Obvious agenda. I don't know what he personally gets out of it, but you're kidding yourself if you think this is just an off-the-cuff reaction.

Posted by Drew McW at August 4, 2009 12:13 PM

comment #15

BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey says ...

AICN never posts wildly exaggerated reactions to mediocre films, of course.

Posted by BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey at August 4, 2009 12:24 PM

comment #16

Jeffrey Wells says ...

Well, I asked him point blank if he sent it to six other sites before me and he said no -- just three. He said he didn't know what the correct etiquette was as far as sending along reviews of films he's seen, whether simultaneous is better or sequential.

Posted by Jeffrey Wells at August 4, 2009 12:27 PM

comment #17

p.Vice says ...

This guy is playing you like a bassoon, Wells.

Posted by p.Vice at August 4, 2009 12:28 PM

comment #18

ZayTonday says ...

They have been test screening the SHIT out of this. I've gotten an invite every other week it seems.

Posted by ZayTonday at August 4, 2009 12:50 PM

comment #19

byanyother says ...

Hilarious - you can always tell a shill review. They praise it up one side and down the other and then give one tiny criticism (dream sequence) to make it sound legit.

Wikipedia says: A shill is an associate of a person selling goods or services or a political group, who pretends no association to the seller/group and assumes the air of an enthusiastic customer. The intention of the shill is, using crowd psychology, to encourage others unaware of the set-up to purchase said goods or services or support the political group's ideological claims. Shills are often employed by confidence artists. The term plant is also used.

Posted by byanyother at August 4, 2009 1:20 PM

comment #20

MrTribeca says ...

Moon has been hugely overrated - it's OK but cribs virtually all its ideas and style from a brace of '70s/'80s science fiction movies. Outer space paranoia? Solaris, check. Cute, subserviant robot? Silent Running, check. Electronic countdown clock to astronaut arrival? Outland, check. And so on.
Kudos to Sam Rockwell, though, for a fine performance.

Posted by MrTribeca at August 4, 2009 2:07 PM

comment #21

BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey says ...

I liked Moon because of how low-key it was. It was nice and quiet and had a lovely score and some old-school models/miniatures that look like they could have been taken from an episode of Captain Scarlet.

Rockwell was excellent.

Plus it featured cameos from Effy from Skins and none other than Dr. Lucien Sanchez: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2CAoyZca5Y

Posted by BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey at August 4, 2009 2:23 PM

comment #22

Chase Kahn says ...

"Moon has been hugely overrated - it's OK but cribs virtually all its ideas and style from a brace of '70s/'80s science fiction movies. Outer space paranoia? Solaris, check. Cute, subserviant robot? Silent Running, check. Electronic countdown clock to astronaut arrival? Outland, check. And so on.
Kudos to Sam Rockwell, though, for a fine performance."

Bingo. And yes, it has great atmosphere and Rockwell is entertaining, but it's such a conglomeration of ideas into something that means very little. Atmospheric and photographed beautifully, yes -- but I'm sick of hearing about how brilliant it is.

Posted by Chase Kahn at August 4, 2009 3:21 PM

comment #23

Josh Massey says ...

I mean, it came from jreitman@gmail.com, but he said his name was "Joseph."

Posted by Josh Massey at August 4, 2009 9:59 PM

comment #24

Griff says ...

Shill, shrub, or plant, I'll see this just for Vera F alone.

She's one of our best and least used actresses currently working.

Posted by Griff at August 5, 2009 6:43 AM

comment #25

COCO says ...

Griff is dead on....Vera is under utilized and
that is wrong on so many levels......she is the
true ''thinking'' actress......casting directors pay
attention.

Posted by COCO at August 5, 2009 1:33 PM

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Clooney was really good in the movie. I remember I was using a back massager when I was watching the movie.

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