The Director's Series, Jason Reitman, No. 1


Throughout 2025 I'm turning my focus to Directors. They help craft the vision on screen that makes a movie work. This year I'm looking at five favorite films from 18 directors I admire and 10 films directed by different women that I have enjoyed. Join me Fridays and Saturdays throughout 2025 as we take this journey.

Up in the Air (2009)
Starring: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, and Anna Kendrick
Director: Jason Reitman
About: Reitman's first three films were all bangers. The first two have been on this list, but this was his third and I think his best. It's adapted from a novel by Walter Kirn, but if you've read the book you know how much Reitman breathed into this story. It perfectly captures a difficult moment in the U.S. economy with real life interviews, but at the heart it's about a man with a very specific view of the world. We see how that view is challenged and changed, and how he comes back around to a sad, solitary point-of-view. I love Kendrick and Farmiga here, but this is about George Clooney. I thought it was his best performance. it was my favorite film of 2009, and one of my favorite films of all time. It is an under-appreciated masterpiece.

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