I saw the film “Up in the Air” yesterday and it was exactly what I needed on a lazy Wednesday afternoon. The movie stars George Clooney as a corporate termination terminator who is always flying from one corner of the states to the other firing people for companies that don’t wish to burden themselves with the complicated and delicate process of letting someone go from their employ.
It is a touching film at points and hilarious at others. There are laugh out loud moments (and they are delightful) and a moment of absolute horror in your heart as you realize what you figured all along occurs right before. It’s a “Love, Actually” moment that spins you for a moment before the film does indeed right itself and give some redemption to the very heartbreaking moment you share with George’s character.
He earns a side-kick early on in the film and her arc from focused naive young professional to reality wrecked & responsible is admirably played by the ever so lovely (I have a crush, I’ll admit) Anna Kendrick. I looked into her eyes and saw more about the character than I anticipated. There’s something about her stringent innocence to the reality of the world she’s landed in and how she slowly begins to figure out why George’s character is the way he is.
You also cheer for her at several points in the film as she serves as a conscience wake up call to several characters.
Did I mention she is cute as a button? Right. Back to the meat of the movie.
The moments where we see actual real people reacting to being fired and even towards the end people giving their feelings about what happened is a great bookend to the film. It makes it real and give the film some serious credibility when it comes to the whole idea of getting fired and what it feels like. These people speak for us regular folk and to have their faces and voices in the film elevates (sorry for the pun) it to another level. Instead of being just a movie with romance, drama and a few other ingredients, this movie has a important message and cannot be ignored.
At the end of the film we’re led to believe that people are our most important asset. That loving what you do is a key part of living life to the fullest. We all die eventually. How will we get to the end? Will we have a co-pilot? Someone to share it all with, to keep us warm and welcome us home at the end of a day full of tough toil?
Or will we go it alone flying from place to place and never coming home to what matters?
It’s your call.
I walked everywhere to where I needed to go today. WIN!
Uh…I did my junior high gig and worked in a small group. WIN!
Ah, there had to be one…FAIL!
Joe Nichols. And the terrible song he sings about Tequila. WIN
I crashed into bed at 7:30pm. FAIL!
Won in 3/5. That’s admirable.
Discussion
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