http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1193138/
WARNING: Here lies spoilers of THEME (not story)
Director of Juno and writer of Thank You for Smoking has written one of the best screenplays of 2009, beyond a doubt.
Ryan Bingham (Clooney) is a people person. He is a motivational speaker. He is a man that travels around the country on a daily basis to spend 5 life changing minutes with everybody he meets. He is a man who ruins people's lives, crashing everything they had. He is the terminator. Job terminator, that is.
There is no easy way to let someone go, but he knows the ropes. He's a master of nonverbal communication, so to speak. Above all, he believes being terminated from your job should always be a personal experience. This is threatened when Natalie Keener (Kendrick) comes in with a new set of ideals. This Twilight supporting actress rocks his world when she pushes for the company to cut costs by e-firing. Like breaking up over a text message? You tell me.
Reitman shows us there is life beyond expected storytelling conventions set by a monostructural set of expectations. In other words, through simple conditioning we have come to actually expect the same stories told in different manners. For instance, guy has always shied away from relationships with anybody who tries to get close to him, romantically, paternally as well as friends. Or just one of those.
"Of course!" you say. "The man is just afraid of commitment. The guy just needs to fall in love and then discover that he can lose everything he cares about if he does not give up whatever negativity is holding him back. And he'll do it all in Act III."
But what if this guy is as he is because his philosophy has worked and will continue to work for him? What if he actually knows happiness truly by living life with many acquaintances but no real close friends?
There is always a desire to have intimate connections with others, but this is not necessarily a prioritized driving force for everybody.
Ratings:
Personal Affect: 4/5
Obviously I analyzed the film this much, enough to write the bunch of nonsense you just read.
Now, emotionally I did not relate to any of the characters at this stage in my life, but that is actually what makes this movie excel. You see, I was able to wear someone else's shoes for almost 2 full hours and feel what he felt. This is simply true appreciation.
Visuals: 4/5
No fancy camera angles or beautiful shots as well as smooth editing allow me to be sucked into the story without ever being taken out. Which leads me to...
Story: 5/5
For the reasons spoken above, this movie will not resonate with everybody. So be it.
Overall: 5/5
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