Best movies of 2009: Animated films enchanted, while fresh faces and old stars delivered
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Fred Melamed's Sy Ableman and Sari Lennick's Judith Gopnik become entangled in the Coen brothers' "A Serious Man," in which their re-creation of the 1960s was spot-on.
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Years from now, when scholars, historians or techies with the latest whiz-bang device study 2009, they will find movies about the ravages of unemployment, war, illiteracy, sexual abuse and broken hearts and dreams.
However, they will also find it was a spectacular year for animation and one that introduced fresh or less familiar faces (Anna Kendrick, Gabourey Sidibe, Carey Mulligan, Ben Whishaw) and reminded us why we loved the old ones (George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Matt Damon).
Like Nora Ephron toggling between Julie and Julia, I went back and forth with the first two titles on this list but opted for "Up in the Air." It offers further proof that Jason Reitman is not living in the shadow of his famous father, director-producer Ivan Reitman, but forging his own path to the awards podium.
As with every year, it was tough narrowing the best list to a manageable number, and please take note of the side roster of other excellent titles.
George Clooney is certainly the most famous and valuable face of this movie, but credit for its success also goes to the real jobless people seen in cameo.
Other movies earning our critics' highest ratings of four or 3.5 stars in 2009, with full reviews at post-gazette.com/movies.
• "Beaches of Agnes" (Barry Paris, PG film critic emeritus)
• "Man With a Movie Camera" (Paris)
• "Revanche" (Paris)
• "Tyson" (Paris)
• "Katyn" (Paris)
• "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" (Elham Khatami, former PG intern)
• "The Garden" (Khatami)
• "Brothers" (Paris)
• "The Vanished Empire" (Paris)
• "The Baader Meinhof Complex" (Paris)
• "Il Divo" (Paris)
• "Outrage" (Paris)
• "Hunger" (Paris)
• "12" (Paris)
• "Gomorrah" (Paris)
• "Seraphine" (Mary Thomas, art critic)
• "Lemon Tree" (Khatami)
They're mixed into this smart, funny, thought-provoking look at a man who travels lightly through life, both literally and figuratively, as he helps companies fire people. Bliss for him is spending 322 days a year on the road in airports, rental cars and hotels that look exactly alike, no matter the city.
The excellent supporting cast includes Kendrick, Vera Farmiga and Jason Bateman but, best of all, it takes the screenplay road less traveled. You may think you know the destination, but it veers into slightly more dramatic and daring territory. In theaters now.
First Published January 1, 2010 12:00 am
