Jason Reitman is following Juno with an adaptation of the novel Up In The Air, about a guy with one simple goal in life: to collect one million frequent flier miles. George Clooney plays the man at the center of this business-class deconstruction, a man who refers to the self-contained business travel culture as ‘Airworld’ and embraces the many foolish excesses that characterize it.
Now The Departed‘s Vera Farmiga has come on board as well. Variety sez she’ll appear as a businesswoman who strikes up a relationship with Clooney as they encounter one another in airports across the US. Last week work came that Twilight supporting actress Anna Kendrick had joined the cast as one pseudo-romantic interest, but Farmiga will be the prime mover here. Though I’m still trying to erase the memory of Farmiga’s abuse at the hands of Joshua, she can have a snappy way with dialogue and I’m interested to see her interact with Clooney.
The novel took criticism for featuring a dull central character and blowing the balance between show and tell, but I’m curious to see what Reitman can do with it, and how his globe-trotting experience during the promotion of Juno will inform his version.