Jason Reitman: Director with Heart

Jason Reitman (shown at left with director, Norman Jewison) is one of those rare directors who comes along and judging by his body of work, you know that he's not only out to entertain but to educate.

When you meet Reitman you're also a bit intimidated. At 32, he's youthful but serious and  the stories he tells are about people muddling through while enduring some of life's more annoying transgressions. His latest film, Up In The Air has received strong critical acclaim. It stars George Clooney as a corporate downsizer. The viewer follows his travel and his isolated life and examines his philosophies along with the people that he meets along the way.

He's covered this terrain before with previous directorial efforts, Thank You For Smoking and Juno. These films have all taken a very hard look at Americana and the finds the beauty somehow in the supposed ugliness: job loss, teen pregnancy and smoking.

When I caught up with him, it was a whirlwind 8 minutes he allowed of me into his world as he charged out of the Palm Springs International Film Festival after party (he was honored by the festival as Director Of The Year), where I spotted him engaged in a very passionate exchange with his father, director Ivan Reitman at his side and Sean Penn leading the conversation.

He led me through the Parker Palm Springs garden courtyard into the darkness and there I followed behind as he gave me a brief glimpse into this thought process like a harried mad scientist.

Tonic: Since you began film making, the world and specifically American culture has changed dramatically, you could write so many more “pretty” stories, what compels you to write these stories?

Jason: Uh, you know I honestly, I'm fairly Libertarian at the end of the day, and I think people should think for themselves. And uh, I made these films because uh, I saw there were interesting opportunities to humanize jerky characters.

Tonic: I grew up on your father's films, how has he influenced your filmmaking?

Jason: My father has taught me everything. From being the man that I am to the director that I am. Uh, probably his most important lesson was to be an honest storyteller. So that's what I try to do with all my work.

Tonic: You've accomplished plenty in your short career, what are you hoping to do this year for yourself or any plans to give back to your community?

Jason: 2010? Well, uh, I'll say it's interesting you ask this question considering what you write about because 2010, my wife and I decided that it's the new year, and we really wanna figure out....if uh....we think the best way to give back is to find one cause. And to make it very personal, and uh, we have a few ideas, but this is the year we wanna find what we spend you know the next 10 years of our lives devoted to it, so we feel like we're giving as much as we're getting.  We wanna find something that really means something for us where we think we can have an impact and uh, I think that's our goal for 2010.

Photo credit: Wire Image