I don't normally do this sort of thing, or at least I doubt I'll do it too often on this blog but I watched 'Up in the Air' the other day and wanted to write about it. Enjoy:
A life of freedom, a life of floating aimlessly through the sky with nothing holding you back. It sounds like a dream to some people and increasingly more with the younger generation.
A life of loneliness, a life that leads nowhere with no place to actually call your home. That is the reality.
Up in the Air tells the story on Ryan Bingham (Clooney) who has made his living flying from state to state firing people, he’s good at it and due to his lifestyle he has nothing really holding him back, he even sidelines as a motivational speaker offering advice on how important it is to have no one relying on you. His only dream is to reach 10 million air miles saved from flying so often.
The story follows a classic tale of a single man enjoying life only to find a woman along the way of whom will change his whole life. Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga) is a frequent flyer also and spends a lot of time in hotels – not as much as Bingham but enough that they are able to meet up on the road for casual moments.
There is also the story of Natalie Keener, which introduces us to the beautiful Anna Kendrick, a young upstart who has taken the same job as Ryan Bingham, a position she is overqualified for but makes the sacrifice for love.
Bingham’s perfect life of solitude and freedom is interrupted when his boss Craig Gregory – with Jason Bateman playing his usual role of office manager to perfection – lets Ryan know that this young bright spot for the company will be shadowing him to learn the tricks of the trade. The two are polar opposites in personality which creates dramatic, awkward, and sometimes hilarious moments as the two attempt to co-exist on the road together, with it’s toll clearly being taken on Natalie.
The three characters find themselves all at one hotel in Miami when Natalie’s boyfriend breaks up with her out of the blue they all begin to bond as a unit and Bingham discovers that his fancy in Alex begins to blossom even though he discovers she is interested in children and marriage. This becomes clear to Natalie and she confronts Ryan about it
He decides to take that next big scary step and invites Alex to his sisters wedding – it is here Ryan has to reverse his entire life’s philosophy to make sure his sister’s husband to be follows through with the marriage and at his next motivational speech he can’t finish and runs to the airport to fly to Chicago to surprise his new found love.
When he arrives she is at home with her children, and husband, Ryan understands that he has just been an affair all along.
The movie ends with Natalie’s story becoming the happy one, and Ryan’s coming full circle, he returns to the air to what is his true life and attains that 10 million goal he set himself, it hurts but he has achieved it, the rest of his life can now begin being put together.
The film touches some truly emotional peaks and Ryan’s story, while disappointing that he didn’t get the girl of his dreams does mean that he has learnt a lesson, Natalie’s life however is only just beginning and she finds to dream job in another city – she gains that freedom Ryan finally wants to get rid of, and Alex returns to her family.
The aerial shots of each city are fantastic and the production in to each location has been wonderfully put together, even though one or two of the camera angles and movements may be questionable the film as a whole hits a chord that is so rarely hit in modern cinema, it tells the story. The narrative is the most important bit and the audience becomes emotionally invested by each personality trait that each of the characters hold, there is a little bit of everyone in them.
Up in the Air is safely in the category of Film of the Year award, while it may not win it, there is a huge argument for it being so.
4 ½ out of 5
