Short Take: Full of potential, but ultimately indecisive

Director: Jason Reitman (Juno, Thank You for Smoking)

Screenwriters: Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking, Consent), Sheldon Turner (Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, The Longest Yard); Walter Kirn (novel)

Cast: George Clooney (Michael Clayton, Ocean’s 11), Vera Farmiga (Orphan, The Departed), Anna Kendrick (Twilight Saga, Rocket Science)

Length: 1 hr 49 mins

Synopsis: Ryan Bingham (Clooney) is constantly on the move as a man who fires people for a living.  He seems at home in a world of frequent flier miles and few meaningful human connections.  During his travels, he meets Alex (Farmiga) who enjoys a similar lifestyle.  However, his way of life is threatened when ambitious new employee Natalie suggest a method of cutting costs by firing people through videoconferencing.  Bingham’s boss insists Natalie learn the business by travelling with Bingham.  At first, they don’t get along, but as they spend more time together they both influence each other for the better.  As human connections become increasingly important to Ryan, he begins to question his solitary lifestyle.

Analysis: Jason Reitman’s latest comedy/drama examines the limits of human seclusion and whether fulfillment is possible without emotional attachments.  Reitman primarily examines this idea through Bingham’s joy in his ability to alienate himself from people.  Bingham is a man afraid of becoming attached and more importantly, of being hurt.  To him, emotional connection means eventual pain.  So, rather than risk leading a complicated and normal adult life, he rejects attachments and focuses on the minutiae of his nomadic life.  Instead of communicating with his sisters, he racks up frequent flier miles.  He replaces human connection with his pride in his job and it is his principle means of both fulfillment and seclusion.

Throughout the film, Reitman and Turner explain Bingham’s outlook via a backpack metaphor.  At a conference, he gives a speech urging people in his profession to imagine that on their business trips, they must carry everything they own—house, useless knickknacks, car, everything—in a backpack.  He then tells them to burn that backpack and imagine the release of knowing nothing is tying them down.  Next they are to imagine a second backpack, but this time they put in their family members and all the people with whom they share a connection.  This backpack is even heavier and Bingham pushes listeners to imagine what it would be like to do away with all these cumbersome emotions.  After years of persistence, Bingham nearly lives his backpack metaphor.  However, Reitman and Turner do not entirely censure the character for his emotional stuntedness.  In fact it is precisely this ability that allows him to excel at his work.  Whether his job has directed his personal life or vice versa, there is a clear connection between his professional expertise and his approach to his personal life.

Bingham’s isolation is complicated when he is suddenly forced to form a connection with Natalie. She is his opposite in every way: she believes in emotional attachments, she is young and most importantly, she wants a grounded and stable life.  Their conflict deepens the examination of how solitary people can allow themselves to be.  Natalie has her whole life planned, especially when it comes to her future spouse.  In one of the film’s funnier scenes, she describes in minute detail the man she imagines marrying.  From his one-syllable name to the Jeep Grand Cherokee they’ll drive together, she knows exactly what life holds for her. George on the other hand has no plans.  His only goal is to gain frequent flier miles.

However, while Reitman and Turner set up an interesting discussion, they do not quite follow through.  Natalie and Bingham’s lifestyles are offered up as two alternatives and neither is espoused.  However, the way by which the writers avoid choosing a side feels slightly contrived and seems almost like an attempt to make the story poignant.  The ending merely seems an affect to mark the film as indie rather than Hollywood and does not give proper resolution to the comparison of attachment and isolation.  Though Reitman has certainly made an interesting film, it is not everything it could have been.

Rating: 6.5