Up In The Air Review

As the game changes, Bingham too is changed. Where once he avoided attachment, he finds a woman he is drawn to with surprising results.

Life becomes far more complicated when we make connections in other people's lives. Whether family, friends, or romantic couplings, there is no way to live without having expectations of those we interact with, nor theirs for us. These are exactly the kind of complications Ryan Bingham had heretofore made an effort to avoid.

Up in the Air Trailer from Moviefone.com

I enjoyed this movie at a theater. Sometimes it's fun to get out and have that experience but I'll buy the DVD very soon. George Clooney is very smooth in the character of Ryan Bingham and I'll want to watch it again. It's a part that was literally written for him.

Maybe it was the family wedding in northern Wisconsin (everybody knows someone in Wisconsin...), but there is something about Up In The Air that feels familiar. And maybe that's the magic touch of writer/director Jason Reitman.

It's funny that a movie about our need for human connections in such a crowded world can make us feel connected to the movie. Quite odd really. And that's a really good reason to see this movie if you need more than George Clooney and Jason Bateman putting real life into Jason Reitman's characters.

The two main women in Bingham's life are not so different in the goals they have. Both are career oriented and competitive. Both value family and close relationships. Both desire to acquire things in their lives that reward them for being successful.

They are separated by age; Alex Goran (played by Vera Farmiga) is in her late 30's-early 40's while Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) is 23. They see and experience the world differently. Alex has been around longer and enjoys the life she has created for herself. Natalie is still a practicing optimist yet to find her first real relationship or a job that is well suited to her unique gifts.

Jason Bateman plays Craig Gregory, Ryan and Natalie's boss. He fits the part well and comes across in a very believable performance. His attention to detail in the leadership position his character plays is well done. He is engaging.

In the end reality gets in the way of what life could have been for Ryan. Shortly after the family wedding something happens to him at a big talk he has scheduled. It was a big opportunity he had wanted but as he starts to talk about the backpack as usual, he leaves suddenly to fly to Chicago to see Alex. Unplanned. Unannounced. Unexpected. And as it turns out, unwanted.

He was surprised to find out he was a parenthesis in her real life. He thought she fit well into his real life and they both had different expectations. As Ryan is returning to Omaha from Chicago the next day he reaches the magic number of ten million miles. It is not how he wanted it to happen. It doesn't feel as great as he thought it would. He is hurting.

A fired worker commits suicide. Natalie quits. Ryan finds himself back Up In The Air fulltime. He loves his life a little less. Excellent movie. Not too deep, not too much mushy stuff, lot's of travel and really good acting. Adults should see this. F-bombs dropped several times, sexual references all fairly harmless.

Up in the Air Movie Reviews at Amazon

Up In The Air Cast

   
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