The Right Man

Welcome to the gushfest. I'm listening to airport sounds supplied on the new website for Up In The Air because Jason Reitman is the best comedic director working today and if airport sounds are all he sees fit for me to hear right now than airport sounds it is. On this, the inaugural 10th post, it's fitting that we should break the mold.



There are things you get from a clip that you can't get from a trailer, the most important being a sense of pacing and a feel for the dialogue. It's not so surprising then that a director like Reitman, best know for comedic dialogue that's to smart to be real but feels real and enough camera sense to keep himself out of the way of the exceptional performances he pulls from his actors, should offer us a clip rather than the standard mashup of his best lines put to mildly compelling music.

A clip gives you the best of both worlds as far as trailers are concerned. You generate interest while keeping your best weapons secret . It's like Weezer releasing the Buddy Holly single only for you to find out about The Sweater Song and Say It Ain't So.

Clooney appears in good form. The charmer-comes-undone role is a nice combo of his is poorer efforts to portray frazzled quirky characters and the stock Oceansy Clooney. I also like Vera Farmiga, as a more disconnected professional, Departedesque character, rather than her most recent sloppy-horror effort.

Long story short, I'm not up in the air on this one. Reitman looks to be in his usual top form. With a fantastic adaptation, a great cast, and some subtle lighting in toe, he consistently reaches the highest level of comedy, intelligence.