Up in the Air
Short description
Ryan Bingham makes his living by flying around the United States to tell employees at other companies that they are being laid off, sparing their employers the discomfort of doing it themselves. He treats airports, hotels and rental cars as home, keeps his life inside one suitcase, and measures his achievements in loyalty programs; a personal goal of ten million frequent flyer miles is within reach. His routine is disturbed by two women: Alex, a fellow traveller he meets on the road and keeps seeing, and Natalie, a young efficiency expert whose plan to conduct the dismissals by video link threatens to keep Ryan in one place.
Jason Reitman directed and co-wrote the film with Sheldon Turner, following Thank You for Smoking and Juno in his filmography. George Clooney plays Ryan, with Vera Farmiga as Alex, Anna Kendrick as Natalie, and supporting turns from Sam Elliott, Amy Morton and Jason Bateman. The production cost about 25 million dollars and took roughly 167 million worldwide.
On IMDb the film holds 7.4/10 from around 360,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.9/10 from a much smaller electorate of about 4,100. The critics' rating of 8.4/10 from 284 reviews places it above both audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Filming took place in Detroit, Las Vegas, Miami, Effton, Omaha, and St. Louis, USA.
- If George Clooney had turned down the role, it would have been rewritten for Steve Martin and leaned more towards the plot of "Lost in Translation" (2003).
- The majority of people appearing in the film are not actors at all, but ordinary Americans who were laid off due to the crisis. Their scenes were filmed as if they were a documentary.
- Walter Kirn, the author of the book the film is based on, plays a cameo role. In the scene where Natalie is introduced, he sits to Ryan's left.
- Emily Blunt and Elliot Page (formerly known as Ellen Page) were considered for the role of Natalie Keener.
- The film is based on Walter Kirn's novel "Up in the Air" (2001).
- Jason Reitman began writing the screenplay for the film back in 2002, when the economy was booming. The crisis spurred him to revive the nearly abandoned project.
- Vera Farmiga used a body double in the scene where she appears nude. In an interview, she said she has no problem with nudity on camera. She had just given birth, and milk was periodically leaking from her breasts at the time of filming.
- For security reasons, the 35mm film reels were sent to cinemas under the name "Sydney".
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