This year’s best director race is shaping up to be something like a Tracy-Hepburn movie, with ex-spouses James Cameron (“Avatar”) and Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”) going head-to-head for the Oscar. As I see it, there is only one man — who happens to be young enough to be their son — who could potentially deny them both, and his name is Jason Reitman (“Up in the Air”).

An Oscar win by Reitman — who was previously Oscar-snubbed for adapting and directing “Thank You for Smoking” (2005) but Oscar-nominated for directing “Juno” (2007) — would provide some drama of its own. Not only would he accomplish something that his famous father never did — Ivan Reitman directed “Stripes” (1981), “Ghost Busters” (1984), and “Dave” (1993), among other films that made a lot of money but failed to bring him awards — but he would also become the youngest best director Oscar winner in history, breaking a record that Norman Taurog (“Skippy”) has held for 78 years by 4 months and 2 days.

While everyone and their mother seems to be a Reitman fan today, I think it’s important to remember something: when he first announced his intention to become a filmmaker, many (if not most) accused him of getting a leg-up from his father; when he made his first feature, many (if not most) attributed its success to his all-star cast; and, when he made his second film, many (if not most) gave the lion’s share of credit for its unique voice and style to screenwriter Diablo Cody. Only now, after delivering a third critically and commercially successful film, are many (if not most) finally beginning to consider that Reitman may be the indispensable ingredient behind his success.

Now that Reitman has three films under his belt, one can even begin to make the case that he is a true auteur. By referencing my memories of his three films, my past interviews and conversations with him, and my recent conversations with some of his closest collaborators, I believe that I have been able to identify a significant number of narrative elements, aesthetic choices, and personnel decisions that have recurred throughout his work…

• Same Core Stock Company Since the fall of the studio system in the late 1940s and early 1950s, only a few directors — Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Judd Apatow come to mind — have engendered the degree of loyalty from actors and crew members that Reitman has from his. Among those who clear their schedules and make themselves available to work whenever he needs them: character actors Jason Bateman (“Juno,” “Up in the Air”), Sam Elliott (“Thank You for Smoking,” “Up in the Air”), and J.K. Simmons (“Thank You for Smoking,” “Juno,” “Up in the Air”); cinematographer Eric Steelberg (“Juno,” “Up in the Air”), film editor Dana Glauberman (“Thank You for Smoking,” “Juno,” “Up in the Air”); production designer Steve Saklad (“Thank You for Smoking,” “Juno,” and “Up in the Air”); costume designer Danny Glicker (“Thank You for Smoking,” “Up in the Air”); composer Rolfe Kent (“Thank You for Smoking,” “Up in the Air”); first assistant director Jason Blumenfeld (“Thank You for Smoking,” “Juno,” and “Up in the Air”); and producer Dan Dubiecki (co-producer on “Thank You for Smoking,” executive producer on “Juno,” and producer on “Up in the Air”).

• Cool Opening Credits Sequences Opening credits sequences were — with the exception of the James Bond films — basically a lost art until Reitman and the special effects company Shadowplay Studio reintroduced them with a cigarette box montage for “Thank You for Smoking” an etch-a-sketch sort of montage for “Juno,” and postcard-like montage of stunning overhead shots of American cities for “Up in the Air.” Steelberg explains, “It’s something he enjoys, as it begins to set the tone for the upcoming story after all those trailers and commercials. Shadowplay are wonderful collaborators and work tirelessly form the moment we start shooting ’til the film is finally delivered. They have this approach of doing things analog first, backed up by digital tools. For instance, the opening of ‘Juno’ was animated still frames of Xeroxed still photos which were hand colored and scanned.”

• Genre-Blending Reitman has demonstrated the rare ability to construct fun movies around difficult subjects (the cigarette lobby in “Thank You for Smoking,” teen pregnancy in “Juno,” and the current economic recession in “Up in the Air”). His “dramedies” are very much in the mold of earlier films by Stanley Kubrick (“Lolita,” “Dr. Strangelove”), Hal Ashby (“Bound for Glory,” “Being There”), and especially Preston Sturges, another specialist in snappy dialogue whose directorial debut “The Great McGinty” (1940) is, like Reitman’s directorial debut “Thank You for Smoking,” about a bullshitter whose underhanded behavior eventually catches up to him; whose most commercially-successful film “The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek” (1944) is, like Reitman’s most commercially-successful film “Juno,” about an eccentric young girl’s accidental pregnancy; and whose masterpiece “Sullivan’s Travels” (1941) is, like Reitman’s masterpiece “Up in the Air,” about a wealthy guy who ventures out of his bubble and witnesses the full extent of America’s economic meltdown.

• Characters You Can’t Help But Like Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart in “Thank You for Smoking”) is a weasely lobbyist who passionately defends a cigarette industry that he knows is killing people; Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page in “Juno”) is a smart girl who does a stupid thing by failing to take precautions and consequently becomes pregnant; and Ryan Bingham (George Clooney in “Up in the Air”) is a guy who wants no ties to people he knows and proudly makes his living firing people he doesn’t know. And yet, despite such shortcomings, we come to love each of them because of their quick wit, obvious wisdom, undeniable charm, guarded vulnerability, killer smiles, and…

• Voiceover Narration In a move that would make Robert McKee (“Any idiot can write a voice-over narration to explain the thoughts of a character”) pop a blood vessel, but that works very well for him, Reitman has had the central figures in each of his films — Aaron Eckhart in “Thank You for Smoking,” Ellen Page in “Juno,” and George Clooney in “Up in the Air” — provide voiceover narration.

• Self-Reflexivity Deliberately or not, Reitman has cast in the central role in each of his films an actor whose public persona is very similar to his or her character’s persona: for Nick Naylor, the smooth-talking, unflappable ladies’-man in “Thank You for Smoking,” Aaron Eckhart, a smooth-talking, unflappable ladies’-man; for Juno MacGuff, the smart, quick-witted teenager in “Juno,” Ellen Page, a smart, quick-witted teenager; for Ryan Bingham, the dashing, witty, charming, wealthy bachelor who elects to maintain few meaningful relationships in his life in “Up in the Air,” George Clooney, a dashing, witty, charming, wealthy bachelor who elects to maintain few meaningful relationships in his life.

• Focus on the Family Reitman’s parents have been married for 33 years, and he and his two siblings enjoyed very happy childhoods, so it’s somewhat ironic that all three of his films have involved troubled/fractured marriages (Aaron Eckhart and Kim Dickens as Nick and Jill Naylor in “Thank You for Smoking,” Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner as Mark and Vanessa Loring in “Juno,” and a nameless/faceless guy and Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”) and somewhat “lost” youngsters (Cameron Bright as Joey Naylor in “Thank You for Smoking,” Ellen Page in “Juno,” and Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”).
  

• Comedian Cameos Reitman obviously has a great sense of humor, so perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise that comedians like him or that he likes comedians — indeed, he has elected to feature them in brief cameos in each of his films: David Koechner as a giddy NRA lobbyist in “Thank You for Smoking,” Rainn Wilson as a nosy convenience store clerk in “Juno,” and Zach Galifianakis as a terminated employee who fantasizes about ways in which he can take revenge against his former employer.

• Distinctive Soundtracks Reitman is a huge music buff who “sees music as a character in each of his films” and has used them to introduce (The Moldy Peaches’ ”Anyone Else But You” and Mott the Hoople’s “All the Young Dudes” in “Juno”; Sad Brad Smith’s “Help Yourself” in “Up in the Air”) and re-introduce (Tex Williams’ ”Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette!” and The Mills Brothers’ ”Smoke Rings” in “Thank You for Smoking”; Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings’ ”This Land Is Your Land” in “Up in the Air”) numerous songs into the public lexicon. Indeed, his distinctive taste — which seems to run toward indie, folk, acoustic guitar type stuff with a lot of warmth — helped bring him and his “Juno” music supervisor Margaret Yen the 2007 Grammy for best compilation soundtrack for a motion picture. For fun, he moonlights as one-half of the mash-up DJ team “Bad Meaning Bad” (along with composer friend Mateo Messina), and explained to USA Today, “Being a DJ is a lot like being a director. DJs are taking ideas from different places and putting them together in a new way. In a weird way, that’s all you’re doing as a director. It’s kind of a strange kinship.” Steelberg expands, “I’ve heard him say most scores and orchestrations are so big, and full, and too technically-perfect, and digital. He likes that smaller-range analog sound that has imperfections, so he’s always trying to get that, much to the horror of the sound recordists and mixers who strive for aural excellence. This approach with music is not unlike our approach with camera and lighting.”

Related Reading:

• My interview with Reitman for “Thank You for Smoking” (November 2006)
• My interview with Reitman and Diablo Cody for “Juno” (September 2007)
• My analysis of “Up in the Air” (September 2009)