Movies

‘Up in the Air’ Receives Strong Early Buzz From Telluride

By  · Published on September 7th, 2009

A little over a month ago, almost every film website on the face of the planet got an email from a “long time reader” who wanted to submit a super-extra-early review of Up in the Air, Jason Reitman’s follow up to Juno. The thing was sickly praiseworthy, had one small nitpick, and otherwise reeked of being a plant. I’m not talking about sentient begonias writing movie reviews. I’m talking about someone from the studio lavishing praise and getting it published under a pseudonym on a film website to generate good buzz.

Well, now the film has actual been in front of a few eyeballs at the Telluride Festival, and it’s getting exactly the same response from the professional critics and film bloggers.

Stephen Farber of The Hollywood Report writes a fairly comprehensive review (as in, it reveals a ton about the film):

Boasting one of George Clooney’s strongest performances, the film seems like a surefire awards contender, and the buzz will attract a sizable audience. . . Laughs and heartbreak meld seamlessly in this brilliant character drama.”

The normally not-at-all-hyperbolic Alex Billington from FirstShowing gave the film an 8.5 out of 10:

Overall I’d say Jason Reitman knocked this one out of the park, his best film yet.” (Bold words and bold claims not altered)

Peter Sciretta over at /Film loved Clooney, loved Anna Kendrick, and gave the film a 9 out of 10:

Up in the Air is charming, funny, moving and timely. It makes you ask questions of yourself.

Reitman has scored two wins already with Thank You for Smoking and Juno, so it doesn’t seem too far-fetched that he’d create a beautiful movie – especially considering the acting talent involved – but it’s always nice to start seeing confirmation coming in from known entities instead of random emailers with questionable origins.

Could the director have his second Best Picture nomination on his hands?

Up in the Air hits theaters on December 4th and stars George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, and Jason Bateman.

What do you think?

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