‘Up in the Air’ is a very hard film to explain.  Something about a guy who goes around collecting frequent flyer miles and has no personal relationships.  In writing this review I was hoping to shed some new light on the plot that would make readers jump into theaters on November 25th however I can’t really. The fact is ‘Up in the Air’ just very hard to summarize (well summarize and make it sound cool) without spoiling most of the movie. Just know that I liked this movie.

George Clooney is Ryan Bingham a corporate downsizing expert who travels the country doing a job some employers are too afraid to do: downsize. Sometimes employees cry, other times they use a string of colorful but not to original words, and occasionally they turn violent. These are a few reasons a company might hire a consultant like Ryan Bigham to do their dirty work. This job allows Bingham to remain in motion at all times making very few personal connections. In a hotel bar Bingham meets Alex (Vera Farmiga), he takes her to his room and then they part ways agreeing to meet again should their layovers ever cross ways. Bingham goes back to his corporate office for an important meeting, his boss Craig (Jason Bateman) informs him that the new hotshot Natalie (Anna Kendrick) has come up with a way to lay people off over the internet essentially making him obsolete. This greatly jeopardizes Bingham’s constant on the move lifestyle and his goal of obtaining ten million frequent flyer miles.

The film is not really about a guy trying to get ten million frequent flyer miles, it’s about the way different types of people interact with each other. Their are about six ‘main’ characters and each approach life and relationships in a very different way. So that’s really what ‘Up in the Air’ is a character study of six people, each trying to be happy and looking in different places.

‘Up in the Air’ is a well crafted character expose. The photography is not flashy but their are a lot of interesting visuals, as well as a brilliant title sequence by Shadow Play Studios (they also did ‘Thank you for Smoking’ and ‘Juno’).

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written by Travis \\ tags: 'Up in the Air', Anna Kendrick, George Clooney, Jason Bateman, Vera Farmiga

Sorry it’s a tad late, I try to get these things out sometime during opening week but better late then never (this saying of corse does not apply for ER staff).

‘State of Play’ is a taught political thriller about decoding the truth in a world where very few people seem to tell it or at least all of it. Russell Crowe stars as Cal McAffrey an old fashioned nothing-but-the-facts newspaper man who seems to have particular distaste for online journalism like Della Frye’s (Rachel McAdams) blog.

Cal is investigating a shooting in which one man was killed and the other is still in a coma. When Cal’s good friend and former roommate Senator Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) comes to him after the apparent suicide of one of Collin’s researchers Sonia Baker (Maria Thayer), who was also having an affair with Collins, Cal tries to help his friend by building a case for something other then suicide like accidental death.

At the newspaper Della and Cal are made partners for a new story on the death of Sonia. Della finds out that in the Metro station Sonia died in one of only one of three security camera blind spots.

Senator Collins happens to be building a case against Point Core a very shady private security contractor that happens to have a $40 billion contract with the US government. Sonia was the lead researcher on the case and Collins believes they killed her for it.

‘State of Play’ is a great political thriller with just the right pacing that keeps twisting and turning until the very last scene.

Without spoiling too much I will say that I found the final climax to be a bit disappointing and anti-climatic. You’ll understand when you see it. It’s interesting and I’m not saying it’s bad, but it fundamentally changes several elements of the film. Personally I was expecting the roller coaster to turn one way and it went the other.

Despite my slight distaste for the ending, this is good filmmaking there is no denying that.

‘State of Play’ directed by Kevin Macdonald (’Touching the Void’ and ‘The Last King of Scotland’), also stars Helen Mirren, Robin Wright Penn, Jeff Daniels and Jason Bateman. This gives ‘State of Play’ one of the best and most talented casts in recent years.

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written by Travis \\ tags: Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren, Jason Bateman, Jeff Daniels, Kevin Macdonald, Rachel McAdams, Robin Wright Penn, Russell Crowe, State of Play

I went to an early showing of Hancock tonight and I found it to be wonderfully entertaining and fully enjoyable.  I have been anticipating this film for a long time, so naturally I went in with great expectations.   

Despite a fast adrenalin filled, and funny, opening sequence I found the film lagged a little around the twenty minuet mark. Maybe I was expecting something different but it seemed the story had come to an almost stand still, here I found a lot of the jokes to be laborious and immature. However shortly after the film picked up and became very, very enjoyable and made for a fun hour-and-a-bit. Not the summer’s best but pretty good.
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written by Travis \\ tags: Charlize Theron, Hancock, Jason Bateman, Peter Berg, Summer, Travis's Review, Will Smith