Up in the Air infused with recession's realities

Last Updated: Saturday, September 12, 2009 | 6:43 PM ET

CBC News

Actor George Clooney, left, listens as Up in the Air director Jason Reitman speaks about the film at the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday. (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)Jason Reitman's new film started out a satirical comedy about a travelling corporate downsize expert, but the recession and massive job losses in the U.S. last year ultimately infused the writer-director's third feature with a stark dose of reality.

Up in the Air, debuting at a Toronto International Film Festival gala Saturday evening, is based on the Walter Kirn novel and stars Hollywood icon George Clooney as the flawed protagonist who finds romance as he begins searching for meaning in his life.

In the six years that it took Reitman to adapt the story, "obviously, the world changed," he told reporters in Toronto on Saturday afternoon, hours before Up in the Air's world premiere.

"These satirical humour scenes about people getting fired weren't so funny anymore," said Reitman, whose father — Canadian movie mogul Ivan Reitman — produced Up in the Air and sat in the front row watching his son take questions.

Real stories informed film

Since shooting was set to take place in the hard-hit cities of St. Louis and Detroit, Reitman — known for acclaimed films Juno and Thank You for Smoking — decided to seek the input of real people who had lost their jobs. Ultimately, 25 of them made it into the film.

"As we were working on the film, it became clear that it was less and less a comedy and much more about real people and real things," Clooney said. "It felt like we were sort of just at the exact right moment to be making the film."

For Reitman, "[Up in the Air ] is about a man searching for purpose in life. And what seems to be a heartbreaking result of losing your job is people in the middle of their lives searching for purpose.

"I don’t only do comedy, folks," he quipped to lighten the mood.

Reitman also said he considered Clooney to have delivered his "most vulnerable" performance to date in Up in the Air, which has already won favourable buzz from critics and audiences at the festival.

Clooney, in turn, commended his fellow performers — including actresses Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Melanie Lynskey and Amy Morton — while Reitman praised Jason Bateman, who had also appeared in 2007's Juno.

"I selfishly like watching him do what he does as a filmmaker because it's something I aspire to be one day," Bateman said.

"He's one of the few actors who can do drama as well as he does comedy and, yeah, I will always be looking for a role for him in every movie I make," Reitman added.

Actor George Clooney smiles Saturday during the Up in the Air news conference in Toronto. (Mike Cassese/Reuters)Queries directed at Clooney, ever-charming and always joke-cracking, and Reitman dominated the early afternoon news conference.

Facing a room packed with reporters and photographers from around the globe, the duo gamely answered a wide range of questions, from whether Clooney was inclined to start a Facebook page ("I would rather have a prostate exam on live television by a guy with very cold hands") to Reitman's advice for budding filmmakers (Start with short films submitted to festivals).

Up in the Air opens in theatres in December. The Toronto International Film Festival continues through Sept. 19.