Reality bites. And amidst the magic that all the fantasy-driven movies like Avatar have brought to the main screen audiences, some people opt to savor the bittersweet taste of reality rather than escape from it--I'm one of them. "Up In The Air"is a dramedy that lightly tackles the very highlight of the recession era in the United States. It's the story of Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) who works in a company that specializes in firing people and made for employers who don't have the guts to conduct employee layoffs on a face-to-face basis. He's also a motivational speaker who usually starts off the discussion by asking his audience the symbolic question of "What's in your backpack?". He introduces the comfort and advantages of having a life free from baggages brought upon by relationships and commitments. It reflects his own philosophy in life that mainly resembles that of a hermit's, even though he keeps on denying it. Ryan's personal goal for his life is to achieve ten million frequent flyer miles through riding the plane, which he bluntly treats as his 'home' because of the daily trips he have to endure for his job. The story also revolved around two characters namely Alex (Vera Farmiga), a frequent flyer as well whom he had casual relationship with while traveling, and Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), his ambitious coworker who developed the idea of conducting the layoff remotely through the internet, contradicting Ryan's traditional face-to-face firing. Later in the film, Ryan almost fell in love with Alex but found out that she already has a family of her own and their relationship is a mere escape from reality. Natalie, on the other hand, quit the job during the last part of the film after learning that one of the employees she fired jumped off the bridge and took away her own life. However, she got the new job because of the recommendation forwarded by Ryan, whom she developed a friendly relationship with eventually.
"Up In The Air" (which has various nominations for Golden Globes and Oscars) is a true masterpiece combining wit, comedy, and drama. On a personal perspective, I think this movie is something that I can relate with. Having experienced how it feels to be fired unexpectedly, I saw great humor in the way Ryan developed his own line in firing employees : "Anybody who ever built an empire, or changed the world, sat where you are now. And it's *because* they sat there that they were able to do it." During this trying times aptly dubbed as the 'recession era', unemployment and moments like what the film captured regarding firing people are the things that people have to watch firsthand in order to realize that there's life after unemployment. Also, the movie, by painting a portrait of Clooney's character, made me check my own ideologies and have a sudden soul-searching. I have lived a life with a limited time for building and nurturing friendships. I'm the type of personality that will value my career more than anything else like what Ryan Bingham believes in the movie. I prefer to be alone most of the time and not so much of an outdoorsy kind of person. I don't know what good reason to give for such a behavior but maybe I can count on what Ryan's brother-in-law asked when he had a cold feet in marrying Ryan's sister. Like him, I also can't see the purpose and meaning for getting married, raising a family, and then ending up being old and abandoned to a nursing home. However, by contemplating the way the story ended in the movie, connections seem more important than existing alone- -an idea that brought me back to reality.
In general, the movie is an artistic combination of great story-telling and surprisingly good acting. George Clooney is quite great as usual but Anna Kendrick really surprised me the most. I have seen her played a not-so-significant role as Jessica in the Twilight movie series but in judging the way she portrayed her character in this movie, I won't doubt if she will receive various nominations.
Considering all these aspects that has made this movie a very good pick, I assure that everyone will be captivated and fall in love with this movie made up in the air!
The slower we move the faster we die. Make no mistake, moving is living.- Ryan Bingham
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