"Up In The Air" Scores As Great Labor Film

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

One of the year’s best films – and a strong Oscar contender – is also a terrific labor film. Up In The Air – which just hit local theaters last Friday -- boasts near-perfect acting from stars George Clooney, Vera Farmiga and Jason Bateman and sharp direction by Jason Reitman in a comedy-drama that expertly and intelligently mixes humor, satire and tragedy. Clooney plays a corporate downsizing expert whose own job is threatened by technology. “As if all of that -- perfect casting, brilliant writing and flawless tonal control -- weren't enough,” says The Washington Post’s Ann Hornaday, “Reitman's best, most audacious move turns out to be his choice to begin and end ‘Up in the Air’ with interviews with the recently downsized, most of them real-life. These sequences give what could have been a pleasurable enough bagatelle a thoroughly unexpected air of gravitas and pathos.” The film “takes the trust people once had in their jobs and pulls out the rug. It is a film for this time,” says Roger Ebert. In more labor film news, “The Most Dangerous Man In America,” the film about Pentagon papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg that screened at this year’s DC Labor FilmFest Whistleblower Film Series, is getting serious Oscar buzz, making the shortlist for consideration as Best Documentary of the year. - Chris Garlock, Director, DC Labor FilmFest