Up in the Air (2009)

So I recently checked out the trailer for Up In The Air, and I couldn’t quite figure out what’s going on. Based on the plot, this one sounds like a romantic comedy, but the trailer is too vague to even give that much away. Intrigued, I figured I’d research a little deeper.

Basically, it’s about a business exec who finds love while flying at 10,000 feet. And with George Clooney in the leading man role, that might actually be entertaining – but if that’s the case, then the film should be aimed at a female audience right? So how come there isn’t even a glimpse of the girl – or, in fact, any kind of romantic notion – in the trailer?

It seems to me that this film is trying to appeal to a broader audience than the typical romantic comedy crowd. By giving viewers just snippets of what’s going on (finally – a teaser trailer that actually teases!), they seem to want to get people hooked on the very vagueness of the trailer, in the hopes that an audience will continue to follow the film, and even pay the big bucks to find out more about it.

Will the ploy work? Amid recent rumblings of an Oscar® nod for Clooney, it sounds like this one is going to entice a couple just so can they find out what’s going on. But wait…an Oscar#174; nod for a romantic comedy? Hmmm…maybe this isn’t the movie I guessed at.

Great. Now they’ve got me hooked in too. Hopefully I’ll be able to find out more about this one when the normal trailer hits.

Oh, it should also be interesting to see how George Clooney fairs against himself on November 25, with Up In The Air getting a wide release the same day Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) (which Clooney lends his voice to) opens in theaters.