You know what? I like Shahrukh Khan. I think he has an amazing screen presence and on-screen energy which makes even his dumbest movies watchable at least for the first half. His on-screen chemistry with the leading ladies is always awesome. Yet, regardless of those screen names – Rahul, Raj or whatever – Shahrukh is always Shahrukh.
What I said about can be applied to George Clooney also. The man has a killer charm, wonderful on-screen presence and energy, yet remains to be Clooney for most of the times (perhaps except in the movie “Syrianna“). Be it Danny Ocean (Ocean’s series), Michael Clayton (Michael Clayton), Miles Massey (Intolerable Cruelty), Harry Pfarrer (Burn After Reading) or Ryan Bingham in “Up in the Air“. Clooney, with all his admirable charm and acting skills, hardly turns to become the character. He, like Shahrukh, gives the Clooney identity to most of the characters he played.
Which is why it turns out that the most notable performance of the movie “Up in the Air” is by Vera Farmiga with her portrayal of Alex. Alex is a frequently flying “air-companion” of Bingham and they have a casual sex relationship. Even an emotionally strong man like Bingham (his job is to fire people for corporate companies) who doesn’t spare enough time for family or friends (his friends are not even mentioned) gets the hang of boredom and falls for Alex. There you see Alex who asks “what are you doing here?” when Bingham knocks on the door of her house, where she lives with her family about which she never mentioned to Bingham. She goes ahead and tells him that her family is her real life and Ryan is simply an escape. Yet she does not bother to tell him later that they can meet up again. Vera simply handles the role of Alex who leads two parallel lives and compared to Clooney, she totally immerse herself into the character than Clooney making a Clooney out of Ryan.
The movie looks into the brutal realities of the corporate culture and it handles the theme so well without too much drama. Another actor who stands out in the movie is Anna Kendrick as Natalie Keener, an ambitious young woman who works with Ryan. Her performance is very honest and convincing.
The movie is subtle, convincing and comes with wonderful performances by the lead actors, but Clooney’s nomination for Best Actor in the Oscar? I think it’s not worth it.