Up in the Air - Movie Review

Spoilers Ahead:

Tonight most people will be welcomed home by jumping dogs and squealing kids. Their spouses will ask about their day and tonight they'll sleep. The stars will wheel forth from their daytime hiding places. And one of those lights, slightly brighter than the rest, will be my wing tip passing over.
-Ryan Bingham

You know what! I would like to think that Ryan will be fine. All of us have these moments of self-pity when we yearn for company and wistfully wonder about the bliss in the lives of people who are welcomed home by the jumping dogs, squealing kids and spouses. I believe that it is like those moments when these people wistfully wonder about the joys of being alone and without the weight of relationships in their backpacks. Ryan is intelligent and mature enough to come out of his heart break and enjoy the life and backpack philosophy he has created for himself.

There is a scene towards the end of the film where the to-be husband of Ryan's sister gets cold feet on the day of his wedding and Ryan talks him out of it and makes him go back to the girl. The scene shows this guy going back to the girl and then cuts to Ryan and the older sister happy about it. Ryan is a confirmed bachelor who does not believe in marriage and the older sister, at the time of the scene, is going through a separation. And the two are happy about bringing the young couple together - almost implying that all said and done, marriage is a necessary evil.

Ryan is a self-confessed shark - and towards the end of the movie we see him sharing 500 thousand miles of his with his newly-wed sister and her husband. It is not that the events preceding this made him into a more loving human being. This is not a coming-of-age movie. We see that all through the movie, he is going around all the cities with the cut-out of his little sister and her husband to-be taking pictures in front of all those Patel Points. Without thinking twice, he jumps to protect fetch the cut-out from water when it falls into the water and starts drifting away. Ryan is, by nature, a nice man.

I could be saying something very far fetched, but the structure of the movie and the adventures of Ryan across the United States reminded me of adventures of Marcello in the city of Rome in La Dolce Vita. A party on the ship, a wedding, Ryan and Alex, his work taking him to various places - Natalie playing Paparazzo to Ryan's Marcello etc.

I was almost groaning during the scene where Ryan abandons the motivational speech midway and runs to Chicago to find his girl and be with her - the scene follows the grand tradition of the climaxes of rom-coms (Pretty Woman instantly came to mind) bringing the movie to an apparently dissatisfactory ending. What follows is refreshingly different.

Up in the Air is the second best movie of the year - only behind Inglourious Basterds and George Clooney has probably given the performance of his career.

4 out of 5 Air miles.

Comments

[harsha]

Aravind JI, Finally! I stepped onto your blog! you are insanely passionate reviewer. Must now make it an habit to read your blog regularly before I plan to pick a movie to watch.
I still haven't watched the Rope movie that you recommended in spite of trying many times as my mac doesn't play the dvd nor do my other dvd players.. it's almost like there is civil resistance from all my gadgets and forcing me to consider watching this at your shack! we must do a movie-night one of these days!
For now, I will watch up in the air next and proceed to reading your review in full! :)

[Sunny]

I eventually jumped into here. I'm so agree with your review of 'Up in the air'. you are such a remarkable reviewer. Thaks for read it~!

[Arvind Swarup Pathiki]

@Harsha/Sunny: thank you. I feel encouraged.

[Up in the Air (2009)]

Thank you for reviews !! I always love to read movie reviews. It is fantastic movie. Being from the St Louis area and having a son and a daughter in Miami it is fun seeing places in a movie where you have been.

[Arvind Swarup Pathiki]

Yes indeed. it must be good fun to see places in a movie where one has been. i always try to spot such places in movies... most memorably, the places that the protagonists walk around in Paris in 'Before Sunset' comes to my mind at present. Thanks for the comment.