DVD Review: Up in the Air

Tenley Woodman - Boston Herald

"Up in the Air" had just opened when director and screenwriter Jason Reitman ("Juno") recorded the DVD commentary. Reitman wondered whether viewers would love or hate this film.

Six Oscar nominations later, he has his answer.

"Up in the Air," based on the novel by Walter Kirn, follows traveling businessman Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) as he navigates changes on the job and in his personal life.

This wry tale focuses on personal relationships, or in Ryan's case, lack thereof. He travels the country to fire people in face-to-face meetings and is content with his nomadic lifestyle, living in hotels and airport lounges.

This changes when newcomer Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick, "Twilight") proposes Ryan and his colleagues stop traveling and perform their duties online. When Ryan balks at Natalie's idea, their boss (Jason Bateman) forces the two on the road so Ryan can teach her the perverse art of laying off people.

The film is darkly comic, but Reitman acknowledges the bleak economic times in which it is made. He discloses in the commentary how he used interviews with real, recently fired people to ground the film.

Filmmaker commentary is rarely an engaging option within DVD extras, but Reitman brings so much enthusiasm and detail to the task, the commentary is almost better than the film.

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