Review of Up in the Air (2009) by J. Allen H — 08 Jun 2012

I wanted to like this more than I actually did. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but it wasn't quite what I thought it could have been. Very predictable. Clooney is charming and has a voice that keeps you interested even though all he's really doing is saying variations of the same thing over and over. Too many speeches. It was something I thought worked well in Thank You for Smoking, but it adds to the disconnect in this film. The performances overall are fine, it's just the movie itself left me feeling like it was a bit superficial.

Good, but not great. Direction not in the same league as Eastwood's Invictus or Bigelow's The Hurt Locker. Unfortunately, I get the feeling that this will be the film that's lauded over those other two.