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.