Up in the Air

"My type. You know, white collar. College grad. Loves dogs. Likes funny movies. Six foot one. Brown hair. Kind eyes. Works in finance but is outdoorsy, you know, on the weekends. I’d always imagined he’d have a single syllable name like Matt or John or…Dave. In a perfect world, he drives a Four Runner and the only thing he loves more than me is his golden lab. Oh…and a nice smile." --Natalie Keener, Up in the Air.

I don't know whether they've shown this movie in Malaysia yet but I really, really love it! Up in the Air was nominated for 6 Oscars.

It's a depressing movie - I can't kid you with that - about corporate America layoffs and George Clooney's portrayal of a "career transition counselor" -- Ryan Bingham who basically travels around USA to fire employees for bosses too cowardly to do it themselves. He also delivers motivational speeches "What's in your Backpack" which teaches people to free themselves from the burden of relationships. Ryan's ultimate goal is to collect 10 million frequent flyer miles (more people have stepped on the moon) and in one of his business trips, meets Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga), his female equal and falls into a casual relationship with her. Ryan's life may change when his company hires Natalie Keener, a bright young graduate from Cornell University who recommends that the company change the workscape by conducting the layoffs via the Internet. Ryan disagrees with her methods and is ordered by his boss to mentor Natalie by taking her along on his hub-to-hub trips, and along the way he finds out what he's been missing all his life.

The movie is filled with so many amazing liners and memorable quotes that, in spite of the depressing storyline, just makes it feel hilarious at moments. And I loved George Clooney's performance and his chemistry with Vera Farmiga is just exquisite, though depressing at one point. And the quote above from Natalie Keeman just nails it to the point, when you're at a young, brilliant age you have these views about the ideal partner that you're gonna have, and until one point of your life when you get older, you realize that none of it actually matters... (yeah, a nice smile, a nice smile will do).

I'm so gonna rewatch this movie again.

Comments

pik lay said…
I love this movie too. I had watched it.
Janice said…
I watched this movie too. It really hurt and shocked me a bit when George Clooney found out that Natalie Keeman was married and with childrens. I tot it would be a happy ending for both of them but it turned out not.

I do agree with you that until one point of our life, no other factor is more important than a "nice smile".
Xweing said…
@Janice: U mean Alex, right? Keke...

Yeah.. and also a stable job, and ambition.
Janice said…
Ya Ya. I mean Alex. Don't know why i will type the wrong name. Haha.
A Bookaholic said…
i hv nt seen this :( yeah i heard it's really good and yes, they've screened it in Malaysia...siggh...Will watch it on dvd then...
JING said…
ah.. i just missed it! I skipped it for some other movies while I was travelling with cathay. They are showing lots of Oscar nominated films at the moment but I ended up catching the cute & funny animation --"Fantastic Mr Fox". I'ld really love to watch "Up in the air" on my return trip to twn. Thanks for the recommendation!
Xweing said…
Hey r u Jie Jing??
JING said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
JING said…
Yes i'm. Last time still can leave comments without logging in but now i need to log on to my gmail acc to leave u a msg. Hehe..
Xweing said…
Yea sorry cos too many spam comments!

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