Cheeky, sneaky, Friday afternoon movie

Up in the Air (dir. Jason Reitman)

So Marsh and I snuck out yesterday afternoon to watch Up in the Air at the Arts. Watching movies in the afternoon is something that I always enjoy, you get to mix with an odd blend of retired people, students and one guy who looked like he worked a constant night-shift. After cheese toasties and beer for lunch (which always remind me of Blackburn library- the toasties, if not the beer) we settled down to watch George Clooney illustrate the ways in which air travel can still be glamorous and romantic. George's character, Ryan Bingham, lives in a whirl of loyalty cards, air miles, upgrades and Hilton suites; certainly not the kind of character who flies Easy Jet or ever struggles through security with three children and five suitcases. The routines of express check-in, complimentary drinks and room service are the circadian rhythms of his life on the road. "To know me, is to fly with me," he declares in an opening scene voice over, but there is more to him than the jet lifestyle; for every complimentary vodka tonic there is a faceless snowy car park or anonymous office block. Ryan's job is an emploment transition specialist: he fires people for a living, fires people whose bosses have been too cowardly, gutless or busy to actually do the dirty themselves. His very entrance into a building provokes a sense of terror and recoil in the unfortunate soon to be ex-employees, like a spectre of death or pestilence moving across the drab industrial carpet tiles.

During his regular motivational speaking engagements Bingham declares 'We're not swans. We're sharks,' his message in 'What's in your backpack?' is that if you want to live the no strings lifestyle he promotes, then we must down-size our stuff; stuff includes our personal relations. A chance meeting on the road with Alex, Vera Farmiga on top form, piques his interest. She's smart, sassy, sexy and most importantly, she's a shark too- line of the film for me was 'just think of me as yourself, only with a vagina.' The easy route for the story would be for Bingham to fall in love with and be reformed by Alex, but this film resists easy, twee conclusions, witnessed by Alex and Ryan's post coital laptop schedule checking to arrange their next encounter.

There has to be thaw though, and when it comes it seems quite hokey. The groundwork is done by Natalie (Anna Kendrick), a new high flier (but not in the Bingham sense) at the company. A soft centre affecting a hard shell, Natalie becomes a walking , talking conscience for Bingham when she accompanies him on the road- her emotional outpouring in the hotel lobby is also one of the best incidents of schadenfreude I've ever experienced. Natalie's grand idea is to cut the travel budget by introducing sacking by web cam. Bingham is naturally appalled: despite the tie wallet, miniature scotch and airline sushi, Bingham believes that if you're going to wreck someones life by sacking them from the company they've worked for for thirty years, then you might at least do it to their face. There's also the small matter of his miles. Bingham has amassed a serious number of air miles and is chasing a number that he will not share with Alex, could Natalie's grand idea ground him before he makes it? The second wave of emotional thaw takes place at his sister's wedding, ostensibly and discordantly hokey, but a necessary interlude for the conclusion to exert maximum effect.

Away from the story line I was very impressed with the aerial photography of the cities on Bingham's journey, the cinematography was slick throughout, with interesting angles and great locations. Clooney was impressive as the likeable Bingham, but Vera Farmiga stole the show for me- fresh and funny with her talents running the gamut from hopeful and world-weary to darkly manipulative. Mention must also be made of the extras, real-life redundant employees who padded out this unorthodox love story with gritty, real reactions.

I won't reveal if Bingham reaches the magic number or whether the lifelong shark sprouts feathers and a long neck, but the conclusion was pleasantly revolutionary; refreshingly, not in any way you'd expect.

Marsh also liked it, but thought it wasn't Oscar material.