Up In The Air

I was recently reading an article about an Academy Award winning best picture from a few years back. The author of this particular piece stated that the film was in fact one of the worst films of the year because of it's cheap exploitation of emotions through standard Hollywood devices. Instead of making a strong argument for a specific subject, the film used every cliche and underhanded trick to make the audience feel as though they'd been convinced of something deep and important... Now I must admit that at the time I really liked the movie, perhaps I fell for it. Even though I felt that my emotions were being manipulated, I agreed with the message of the film, and I thought there were some pretty strong performances by the actors and actresses. I mention this, because for me "Up In The Air" reminded me a little of that other movie. There is a very convincing piece of acting by George Clooney, almost so good that you don't notice the weakness of everything else.Unfortunately the primary weakness is also the film's strength; Clooney's character. He basically plays the same guy from "The Wrestler" only instead of an over-the-hill has-been professional wrestler played by Mickey Rourke, we get a middle-aged, on-the-verge-of-being-obsolete professional firer. What I liked about "The Wrestler" was that Rourke's character at least knew who he was, and in the end made his decision and was prepared to live with the consequences. Here Clooney convinces us that his character is real, fleshes out some of the nuances of what makes this frequent flier so unique, but in the end what does it really matter, and what does it all mean? Now the movie was funny, it was interesting, it was a glimpse into a life that is unfamiliar to me, but that's not enough for me. Then to top it off, what could have been the best parts of the film came across as being cliche and forced. For example, when Clooney and his partner sit down to fire a long-time company man who becomes visibly distraught, Clooney gives a beautiful motivational speech on the benefits of being fired, the new opportunities that exist. It was so well written and so well acted that it felt well written and well acted. Whenever I realize I'm being manipulated, when I'm not supposed to realize it, the movie fails.