Reviews: Up in the Air & Brothers

Layover Fights

Every year, there is always one film out there that seems to have almost universal appeal from critics and awards groups that I just can't fully get on board with. That's not to say that I don't like these films, but only that I don't believe them to be the cinema changing masterpieces that they are made out to be. For instance, last year's Slumdog Millionaire was a very well made film that won awards left and right, but I did not proclaim it the best the year had to offer. There's already plenty that this film and that one have in common, including taking the National Board of Review's Best Picture award. Like the other film, I don't think this one is the absolute best of 2009. Still, it is a well put together piece of entertainment that is quite difficult to dislike.

George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a cool and slick worker for a downsizing company that loans him out to different places to deliver the news of firings to the employees. Along the way, two major developments cross his path. One is that he is forced to take on newcommer Natalie (Anna Kendrick) under his wing, who has big ideas about revolutionizing the company with computer based firing but little knowledge about the intimate one-on-one touches in dealing with people directly. The other one is a complicated romantic situation with fellow frequent flyer Alex (Vera Farmiga).

As I said, this is a well crafted piece of entertainment that certainly shows the eye of a maturing filmmaker. This is only Jason Reitman's third feature film, following Thank You For Smoking and Juno, for which he never received much of the credit that instead went all to Diablo Cody. All three films seem to take rather dire situations and creates an endearing spin on them. Here, Reitman is able to take a depressing, ripped-from-the-headline premise and makes it funny and charming. He zips us around from place to place, never letting the pace get too muddled and presenting quite a keen eye as to what it takes to keep up with this story.

However, the story presents a bit of a problem. The script, co-written by Reitman and Sheldon Turner, based on the book by Walter Kim, seems divided as to which story it feels is more interesting. There's a big divide between the sentimental love story featuring a man afraid of commitment wanting to come around and the one about the analog player coming to terms in a digital world. The film can't decide which one is better, so it tries to take the best of both worlds and smushes them together. The downside to that is that the film is not able to develop one story enough to feel mature enough to be complete. What ends up happening is that the story tends to meander a bit and feels unfocused. Still, the script is still witty and insightful, even when it isn't sure which one it wants to be.

Clooney seems to embody every character he has played up until this point, and it showcases what I pretty much have thought since the beginning: Clooney is quite a limited actor. However, his lack in range is forgiven when he is able to play a character that augments his personality, which shines a realistic and credible light. Clooney gets that here, and while to an extent I think it's a same extension of what he's been doing before, he still shows that he does it quite well. Farmiga, on the other hand, is always given one new character after another, and it's nice to see her shine in such a role that allows her to be a mix of humorous and mysterious. Kendrick does play her role well, but I couldn't help but feel as if her character doesn't serve much use than to push Bingham to his next emotional cue. She plays it well, but it's a role with not much purpose. Other bit players like Jason Bateman, J.K. Simmons, Zach Galifinakis and Danny McBride offer a little bit of smile in their limited roles as well.

I'm not going to jump and say this is the best film of the year (an honor I still hold to Precious at the moment), but I will say I was thoroughly entertained. The performances are all pretty good, and Reitman's direction keeps the film at a nice pace, even though the jokes only land in square spots in the plot that is divided in its attention. I do believe Reitman's films are getting better and better as they go along, and maybe one day I will agree on the film that everyone seems to love that eludes my extreme praise. ***1/2 / ****; GRADE: B+

Brothers at Harms

Over the past couple of years, we've seen plenty of films dealing with the current war on terror, with many of them focused pretty much on Iraq. Some of them have been mild successes (Stop-Loss, Lions for Lambs), but most have been critical duds and box office disasters. The reason why these films keep failing is because many of them are centered on one political point and not paying much attention to the acting and the characters. This film steers clear of politics, but that isn't the only change in mind it has. This fight moves from Iraq to Afghanistan, rather fitting given the coincidental announcement of the US's surging involvement. This is also one that finds a lot of rich characters to drive an execution that is nowhere near flawless.

A remake of the 2004 Danish film Brødre, the brothers of the title are Sam (Tobey Magurie) and Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaa). Tommy is the black sheep in the family, recently released from jail after a bank robbery and attending the last meal at Sam's home before he is shipped off for a tour in Afghanistan. While there, his helicopter goes down, and the army declares him dead. To help the grieving family, Tommy tries to shape up by proving himself to his tough Marine father (Sam Shepard) and being an impromptu father figure in the home of Sam's wife Grace (Natalie Portman) and her two daughters. Then, the family discovers that Sam survived his ordeal, and he returns home a very changed and disturbed man.

Jim Sheridan is a director who seems most comfortable with intimate family dramas that deal with melodramatic circumstances. In those moments, that is where he seems to find the right amount of emotions to build up, and the interactions between the characters feel quite genuine and real. However, when the film jumps from the quiet family moments at home to the events that happen to Sam under captivity, the film comes to a halt and the emotions are flat. It would have made the film much better if David Benniof's script cut out those moments because they never feel like they gel with the rest of the film. Having that out of the film would give more mystery to Sam's psychosis and would have made the emotional climax at the end that more powerful. Sheridan does what he can with those war scenes, but they are obviously not his strong suit.

Of the three leads, this film obviously belongs to Maguire. He's an actor that has been given dramatic work outside of the Spider-Man franchise, such as other great turns in Seabiscuit and The Cider House Rules, but he's never been given characters outside the mousy and sheepish qualities they usually posses. Here, Maguire is finally given a character that offers quite the amount of depth and grand emotion. It's a performance that constantly demands much from him, and no matter what the key, Maguire delivers it in strides. Gyllenhaal does well in this role, but I think he's applied himself to much more charm and emotion is other roles and doesn't present the greatest foil to Sam. Portman does give her character enough feeling for the audience to sympathize with her, and she does well in her role. Supporting turns from Shepard and Mare Winningham are quite endearing, but one is a true scene stealer. Bailee Madison plays the oldest daughter, and it is quite amazing how much she is able to pull you into an emotional center not quite seen in child actors. It isn't flashy or contrived; it is real, grounded and credible in a way that has a difficult time reaching adult actors, let alone children.

This is a far from perfect film, as I think the pacing to the film is always jilted by the war scenes and not every emotional peak reaches the destination that is required, along with some odd musical cues from Thomas Newman's score. But the powerful performances save it from drowning, in particular the remarkable turns from Tobey Magurie and little Bailee Madison. We may very well get an onslaught of new modern war films that look into the war in Afghanistan. If we do, then I'd say they have a pretty good starting point here. *** / ****; GRADE: B