[Anonymous]

[BusinessTraveller]

The new George Clooney movie, Up in the Air, opens in the UK mid-January. Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a seasoned business traveller who flies across America as a “corporate downsizing expert”, firing employees on behalf of other companies.

Bingham is on the verge of reaching the holy grail of ten million miles with a certain US airline, when he meets fellow “air warrior” Alex (Vera Farmiga), and everything changes.

The film has already won awards in the US, and this week topped the Golden Globes nominations with six nods, including best drama, best actor for Clooney, best screenplay, two nominations for best supporting actress, and best director for Jason Reitman (of Juno and Thank You For Smoking fame).

Three members of the editorial staff here at Business Traveller were invited along to previews this week, two female, and one male. All had very different opinions about the film, ranging from loving it, to hating it. Here’s what they had to say…

[BTEditorial1]

Every business traveller worth their gold card enjoys collecting points. I admit to checking my mileage balance almost as often as I access my facebook account, and am a member of so many loyalty schemes that last Christmas I asked for a new wallet, not for everyday use, but just to keep all the cards in. I obsess each year over whether i’ll gain enough tier points to keep my hard-earned status, and have been known to spend money I don’t really have to earn miles on my credit card that i’ll probably never use.

So seconds into Up in the Air, and not for the first time in my life, I wanted to be George Clooney. Or rather his character Ryan Bingham, a “corporate downsizing expert” (the man you bring in to fire your own staff), and the sort of air warrior that sends surges of jealousy through the veins of mere mortal business travellers.

Ryan has more top tier loyalty cards than you’ve had hot airline meals, and he’s closing in on the holy grail. As the saying goes points mean prizes, and in Ryan’s case the ultimate prize is membership of an ultra-exclusive club available only to travellers who have flown over ten million miles. With just six members Ryan points out that “more people have walked on the moon” than have got their hands on this card, but he’s close, very close, to becoming the seventh.

Ryan’s life reads like a manual for the business traveller. His carry-on luggage is precision packed; he instinctively knows the right security lane to stand in (“Five words for you: ‘randomly selected for additional screening’”); and he always, always takes full advantage of his expenses allowance. “To know me is to fly with me” claims Ryan, and this is a man all business travellers want to get to know.

And then like a jumbo gone tech, he’s grounded. Newbie Natalie (Anna Kendrick) has devised a way of firing people by video conference, removing the need for employees to take their bad news on the road. Ryan protests that his work requires the personal touch, but the truth is Ryan is more worried about missing out on tier points than he is about the affects on the poor souls he is letting go.

He takes Natalie with him on a trip to prove his point, and promptly scolds her for bringing checked luggage, adding 35 minutes to every journey or a total of seven days spent each year in the check-in queue. Once on board the flight he tears out the membership form for American Airlines’ AAdvantage scheme, and hands it to the bemused Natalie.

Much has been made of the film being a walking advert for American Airlines, and there’s no doubt that Branson’s Virgin cameo in the Bond film Casino Royale has nothing on the almost ubiquitous AA branding on view in Up In The Air. But while Sir Richard’s cringe-worthy turn was a distraction, here brand loyalty is the very essence of the film. Ryan relaxes in AAdmiral lounges, stays at Hilton hotels and rents Hertz cars, happy in the knowledge that every check-in, every room service order, is taking him closer to the prize.

Somewhere in among all this Ryan meets his match in Alex (Vera Farmiga), a fellow air warrior par excellence. We learn little about Alex’s job or background, but suffice to say her and Ryan hit it off over a game of loyalty status one-upmanship. “I bet it’s huge” Alex tells Ryan, referring to his mileage balance. “You have no idea” replies Ryan.

There’s a love story, there’s family ties, there’s lessons learned, and there’s plenty of opportunities for redemption (all puns intended). But as hugely enjoyable as all this is it plays second fiddle to the real star of the film – the art of business travel. Almost every scene starts with an aerial view of yet another US city – a sort of Google Maps for the big screen. Ryan’s life is his travels – when asked by his sister to get photos taken of a cardboard cut out of her next to iconic US landmarks, he chooses the terminal building of St Louis International Airport.

Up in The Air is a must for anyone who spends more time at Heathrow than they do at their kid’s school plays. Oh, and look out for a cameo from what must rank among the best moustaches in cinematic history – how that one got past security i’ll never know.

[BTEditorial2]

For all of you who spend too much time away from home and have an extra wallet stuffed full of hotel and airline loyalty cards, Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air will seem like a big shining mirror being held up in front of you – except that you probably don’t look like George Clooney, the film’s protagonist.

Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, whose job is to travel all over America to fire people he does not know, for firms who are downsizing. It’s a depressing job but Bingham is good at it – empathetic but firm – and he loves being on the road.

He spends 320 days away from home – “to know me is to fly with me” he says over the opening shots of the aerial views of countless American cities. He loves living out of a bag and makes a point of fitting his whole life into one small bag and ridding himself of the things he does not need – “how much does your life weigh?” he asks the audience during one of his motivational speeches (a sideline to his real job). Bingham is also addicted to totting up his mileage and points on various loyalty schemes – most notably (and repeatedly – akin to advert breaks) American Airlines, Hilton Hhonours and Hertz No 1 Gold Club.

The film follows Bingham through the daily systems and procedures that have become second nature to him and most business travellers. He always takes hand luggage (packed meticulously) because he has worked out that you waste 35 minutes waiting for you bag if you check it in and that would amount to seven days a year for him. He knows which security queue to avoid – kids and “never get behind old people. Their bodies are littered with hidden metal and they never seem to appreciate how little time they have left”, and exactly what to wear to make everything flow smoothly.

He looks as comfortable in a business class lounge, as he would do in his own front room – if he had a front room. His flat is a bare white shell with an empty wardrobe and a normal view. He says “All the things that you hate about travelling… are warm reminders that I am home”.

He even meets a female version of himself, Alex (Vera Farmiga). Together they compare their loyalty cards and brag about the size of their mileage accounts and start a casual relationship, meeting up as often as their flight paths cross. “We’re two people who get turned on by elite status – you can’t get cheaper than that”. “There is nothing cheap about loyalty”, she replies. Their conversations continue on this level with a string of super-contrived airport code banter thrown in too.

Bingham seems to be enjoying his life, ignoring his family’s requests to attend his sister’s wedding, and there are montages of him swiping his cards, collecting his points, opening hotel room after hotel room, being welcomed by American Airlines flight attendants, and interesting bird’s eye views of the places he has to visit from Witcha, to Tulsa and St Louis to Kansas City.

The obstacle comes in the form of the modern world, interrupting Bingham’s childish adventures. Technology is threatening his job – his company has found a cheaper way to do the business – via teleconferencing. A theme we are all familiar with. However, the young woman, Natalie, who is implementing this heartless system needs to be shown the face-to-face reality of “letting someone go” argues Bingham (something he is clearly very good at) and so he gets landed with showing her the ropes.

As a plot device this works because Bingham can be taught how to love and live through Natalie’s innocence and blind faith in relationships, and what follows is the gradual realisation that he is actually more loyal to American Airlines than his sisters who he never sees – and perhaps there is more to life than Airmiles after all (take note BTEditorial1).

I won’t give the little plot turns away – Will he achieve his goal of ten million mile status? Will he conform, get the girl and commit to his family? Will technology replace people?

A few times Up in the Air seemed to force the dialogue: In the security line Bingham says Asians are good to stand behind because they pack light and wear slip on shoes. “That’s racist” says Natalie. Bingham replies effortlessly: “I’m like my mother, I stereotype. It’s faster.” Do people really talk like this?

There’s also an assumption that the audience needs to have its hand held. Bingham shows his frequent flyer girlfriend where he used to ‘make out’ on the school steps – and then kisses her there (a clumsy reference to the fact that he is yet to grow up – revisited later when she refers to herself as a grown up). There’s plenty of heavy-handed symbolism – his empty wardrobe, the single toothbrush in his uncluttered house, not quite fitting his family into his bag, being referred to by someone as “just someone who is lost”.

But it is entertaining and likeable and while the redundancies are on the whole dealt with comically, there are a couple of moments when they become more poignant. Reitman has again chosen to give us the anti-hero to grow to love – but it doesn’t work because we all love George Clooney anyway – so we end up following him around the world slightly bemused by his choices rather than feeling any sense of connection.

Reitman’s hugely successful Juno is far more quirky and entertaining (although suffers from the same contrived dialogue) but for people who travel a lot this will be a fun film to watch and has some good references to business travel – albeit a glamorous take on what is after all work, not play.

[BTEditorial3]

Business travellers around the world must be rubbing their hands with glee at the anticipation of watching a film about “them”. I know I was. And what could be better than plugging in those noise-cancelling headphones, sipping a glass of vintage champagne and seeing it at 35,000 ft? Joy, sweet joy.

The opening sequence is reassuringly familiar ¬– cloud formations and fields laid out on in geometric patterns far below, just like the ones you see when you glance out of your own plane window. Down on the ground, it’s not long until we meet our anti-hero – the ever-so suave Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) whose job, we discover, is to travel the country informing employees that “their position is no longer available”.

Director Jason Reitman, who brought us self-consciously quirky movies Juno (2007) and Thank You For Smoking (2005), based Up in the Air on a novel by the same name – the author of which, Walter Kirn, was reputedly inspired to write it after meeting a man in first class who spent more than 300 days a year travelling.

It has been said that movies act like two-way mirrors, and Up in the Air is no exception. When you look in this mirror, you a presented with three possible reflections of yourself to identify with, and for the men out there (BTEditorial1), Ryan is not going to disappoint. A distinguished hint of silver in the hair, an immaculate suit and a case on wheels (no doubt conforming to standard cabin baggage dimensions) containing shirts and ties packed with military precision.

When we see Ryan go through security for the first time, it’s like watching a scene from a Bond film – there is no queue, the polished shoes slip off gracefully, the laptop glides out, he steps through the metal detector (no need for a pat-down), and he is off. Striding towards the plane. Pure sex.

For the ladies, we have a choice of two protagonists to identify with. Firstly, Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), a young, pretty, but-trying-terribly-hard-to-look-professional executive who is hired to demonstrate the merits of video-conferencing and, in doing so, threatens the future of Ryan’s life on the road. What a bitch.

Luckily, Ryan who is older, wiser and vastly more experienced (not to mention unflappable when it comes to issues of the heart), is given the chance to go on a trip with her to make sure she is up to the harsh realities of firing people.

Back in the airport, we see Natalie struggling to pull an oversized suitcase behind her, and tottering on her impractical heels. When Ryan assists her, we discover not only has she packed far too many clothes (half of which he throws in a bin) but a pillow. Oh dear. In a later scene we see another example of the blatant chauvinism abound in Up in the Air, when Natalie laments how her life can only be completed by a man. In my opinion, this kind of dialogue is unforgivable, even if she is pre-fixing her speech with the statement “I know this is not a very feminist thing to say….”

So is that all us women have to aspire to? Of course not. When I grow up, I want to be like Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga), an equally hardnosed and point-obsessed frequent traveller as Ryan. (In her own words, she’s the same as him, “except with a vagina”.) We see the full extent of this when the characters meet at a bar in a Hilton hotel – cue the scenes of drool-inducing loyalty card comparisons that we have all been waiting for.

Needless to say, the chance meeting between Ryan and Alex blossoms into a romantic flurry of Blackberry-to-Blackberry euphemism-laden text messages, sent to each other while reclining in matching (Hilton) bathrobes in separate cities across the US. Future liaisons are arranged in the various destinations they have business in over the coming months.

Some might say this is a refreshingly different romantic comedy. I would beg to differ. The only reason I stayed awake between yet another sequence of ex-employees talking about how they felt after being fired, was that I was cringing so much at Ryan’s desperately trite, new-age philosophy, which he spouts at the motivational seminars he hosts between jobs. “The slower we move, the faster we die,” he says to an audience of keen-eyed wannabes, “we are not swans, we’re sharks”.

The jokes are there, but whether they force a laugh out you is another matter. In between racist remarks only made acceptable by the fact that they are acknowledged as being so by the characters, there are a few one-liners that will no doubt go down in history as “best school-boy gags ever”. But in case these do fall flat, there is always slapstick – at one point George Clooney falls into some water. How original.

Just in case you hadn’t already realised it, Ryan’s part-time life coaching reveals he is not a fan of commitment. “Make no mistake, your relationships are the heaviest components in your life,” he says. (And he you certainly can’t fit them into your metaphorical backpack.) Unsurprisingly, Ryan’s beliefs are brought into question, not only when Alex, the yin to his yang, comes into his life but when he is invited to his sister’s wedding. The romantic elements of the film are as heart-warming as tepid bathwater – the familiar recipe of triumph over obstacle, and clichéd scene after clichéd scene.

As a romantic comedy drama, Up in the Air is as flaccid as a stick of month-old celery. As a film about business travel it is also disappointing – it’s too glossy and the product placement is so overt that half the time it looks like an advert for American Airlines or Hilton. Sure, we can all relate to Ryan’s quest for ten-million-mile status, but his story is less about that and more about how he can use the women in his life to boost his ego.

If you are thinking about watching this movie on your next flight, make sure you ask for a bottle of champagne, and maybe some brandy miniatures, so that by the time you get to the end, you are guaranteed to be comatose.

[handsomestpete]

Why on earth do people not have the nerve to say that this is yet more American production line PAP?!!

[excessbaggage]

handsomestpete – i’d argue that the last review is pretty scathing! “clichéd scene after clichéd scene”… “as flaccid as a stick of month-old celery”… “it’s too glossy and the product placement is so overt”. Hardly lines Paramount are likely to use to promote the film.

Nevertheless, i can’t wait to see it!

[flyingbunny]

Amazing that this film has split opinion when it has been nominated for Golden Globes… or is it? I look forward to seeing it – is it sad that I am excited to see if it does reflect my travelling life and possibly pick up travel tips?

[acchaladka]

I think the third reviewer is a wrong, and that there’s a reason for the nominations and I hope the eventual awards. The film does miss the mark – it could have been a lot more powerful but instead kind of punches you with his personal story, slaps you with stories of being fired, and then walks away without giving you a lesson or really much of anything. I say ‘punches and slaps’ because it’s set up in trailers and parts of the first half as a comedy. But I don’t think the director was going for straight or romantic comedy. What’s not clear is what he was really going for. It’s not quite a satire and not quite a dark comedy.

On the positive side, the film is quite fun for parts, and has strong performances, especially the female lead. There are many meaningful moments.

I also however don’t think the director or writers really related to the character. Some of us are actually stuck in jobs we don’t love, or jobs we don’t love enough to keep travelling 200 – 350 days per year. It’s quite right that the film holds up a mirror to us and we don’t necessarily like what we’re going to see. The firings are horrid of course, and keep this from being a comedy, but Bingham (the main character) does kind things at certain points and is not a rapscallion type. He is not presented sympathetically in the end.

I personally felt this movie was a warning to me or to us the audience about the seductions of corporate comfort, but the type of filmaker (the ‘ironic’ comedian like David Letterman in my opinion is no comedian at all but a self-important schmuck too afraid to engage) was incapable of shaping this better to be either funny or serious. Instead, it’s not much, and that’s a tragedy: this film and concept had real legs for a while there.

[BusinessTraveller]

To celebrate the film’s opening in the UK on January 15, we’re offering one lucky reader the chance to win Up in the Air travel essentials, plus a magnum of Taittinger Champagne. To enter this competition visit:

http://www.businesstraveller.com/competitions/Win-a-Up-In-The-Aira-travel-essentials-plus-a-Magnum-of-Taittinger-Champagne

[BusinessTraveller]

Up in the Air is released nationwide today (January 15), and we welcome your reviews. Don’t forget you have until January 24 to enter our competition to win Up In The Air travel essentials plus a Magnum of Taittinger Champagne.

http://www.businesstraveller.com/competitions

[Wildgoose]

While we rush to praise/pillory Up In The Air, lets not forget a couple of classics in the genre from yesteryear, such as ‘Planes, Trains, and Automobiles’ (funny and touching) and ‘The Accidental Tourist’ (starring William Hurt).Gosh, I really am showing my age now!
I also seem to remeber ‘Fight Club’ made some wry and astute comments on business travel?

[Scarlet-Mouse]

If Up in the Air was a drink, it would be a can of 7UP served at room temperature that has been open on the table for 30 minutes – you think it’s going to be refreshing, but instead it’s a tad sickly and a little bit flat.

If it was a meal it would be a Sainsbury’s microwavable macaroni cheese – you think it’s a naughty treat but it leaves you unsatisfied, in need of something more substantial, and craving something of real authentic quality.

But some people fall for it. They quaff the 7UP and smack their lips, wolf down the creamy pasta in front of the telly without really thinking about it, and rub their bellies thinking they have done rather well for themselves. Give it an award. Invite their friends over for tea and serve it to them.

[Wildgoose]

Scarlet, where have you been all my life? Boy do you write well! Ever considered a career in travel-writing? I know of a few publications that could sure use your talent. ;o)

[BarryScott]

What would the child of a scarlet mouse and a wild goose look like? I dread to think.

[Author]

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