A Review of the Movie Up in the Air

My wife and I saw the movie "Up in the Air" yesterday. I am a big George Clooney fan and I was interested in why this seemingly standard movie was getting such great reviews. The official blurb in wikipedia lists "Up in the Air" as a comedy-drama directed and co-written by Jason Reitman. It is actually a bit misleading for me to say Jason Reitman co-wrote the story; he co-wrote the movie; the story was adapted from the novel written by Walter Kirn in 2001. However, you can tell it was updated to fit into the recent down turn in the economy.

As I mentioned the movie stars George Clooney as Ryan Binhgam, a corporate downsizer who spends his time flying from city to city delivering the bad news to company employees. He was essentially a hatchet man for management that didn't have the nerve to deliver the news themselves. I didn't realize that one could make an entire business out of this but they seem to bundle it with some sort of support for making a transition to another job.

The movie also stars Vera Farmiga as George's on the road friend with privileges. In my opinion this was the best role Ms. Farmiga has ever landed and she worked it to perfection. She did have a part in the powerful movie, "The Departed" for which she was nominated for the Empire Award's best newcomer title, but this part was major and it had substance, and Ms. Farmiga took advantage of every minute of it. The result is that she is nominated for a huge number of awards for this role and I think they are well deserved.

The story is about a man that spends all but forty-three days a year on the road. This is an extreme example of a psychology that I just slightly touched on in my days as a software developer. If you travel regularly on business you can imagine yourself having two different lives. One of the reasons we enjoy vacations is that, for a brief period of time, we live a different kind of life. Our beds are made for us, our food is served to us, and we have no domestic responsibilities. We also have the illusion of being at a higher standard of living because we've prepared for the vacation and we are making the most of it. At home we live within our means whether you're a family person or you live alone. You do chores, buy groceries, wash dishes, and make your own bed.

If you travel on business this impression is amplified by the fact that you aren't using your own money for the trip. Yes, you actually have to work when you get to your destination, but even that is exciting because you're in a different place with different people; it really is a like a whole new life. I traveled for as a contractor and my budget was meager compared to a high level corporate traveler, but I did hold a gold card on British Airways for a while.

This movie goes to the point where Ryan Bingham actually considers the airplane and the hotel room his home. He is so used to the first class treatment of a traveler that his forty-three days at home were a dull afterthought. He has a side job as a motivational speaker whose message was to strip yourself of the unnecessary burdens of life whether they be material possessions or difficult relationships. He learns that people need other people, even if relating to them is difficult sometimes. Though the lesson is there, life has already cast him on his road of solitude and hotel flings. In the end I believe most people end up feeling sorry for this first class jet setter.

This movie is a unique look at relationships and people that live outside of the normal scheme. This doesn't just include the corporate world, military personnel deal with this in a different way. Generally in their case their life style goes down instead of up and they are generally not in a place they would choose to be in. Also long haul truckers live a kind of double life. Very few, if anyone, travels the way Ryan Bingham traveled in the movie, but watch the movie and see if you don't know someone that may be leading this kind of life.

In any case, watch the movie. I believe it deserves the praise and it will be a factor in the Academy Awards this year.