Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Up in the Air’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Finding a way to escape and enjoy quiet time for one's self in the modern world is damn near impossible. We are connected now more than ever. Through social networking and the technological miracle that is the cellular phone, the world and everyone in it are truly at our fingertips.  

But there is a price to pay. Work is always waiting for us, there are emails that need to be answered, coworkers that need a hand and our friends and family are but a text message away. Yet we all wonder, what would it be like to escape? To be able to disconnect ourselves from the world that surrounds us...it is that question that serves as the groundwork for the thought-provoking motion picture, Up in the Air. 

Ryan Bingham is a man without connection. He travels from city to city, stepping in to help out cowardly employers in firing their employees. He comes in, does the dirty work and is off to catch another flight toward another city to repeat the process all over again. It is bliss for Ryan, for he is always above the earth, free of the confines of the world below and all its hardships. That is until the company he works for decides that it is time for him to stay on the ground and in the process, Ryan is returned to the world, and the people within it.  

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I think what I enjoy most about this film, is the fact that it so absolutely raw. The characters in this motion picture are like the rest of us, full of flaws and capable of the same mistakes we commit on a daily basis. It's something that makes this film instantly accessible to any viewer and draws the audience in because not only do we find something in every character in the film, they are likeable. This is likely due to the fact that George Clooney is one of the finest actors out there and he presents Ryan Bingham as a confident man who is clearly terrified to deal with people on any level outside of what he does for a living. We don't pity Ryan for who he is, we are in fact fascinated with what makes him this way and it makes for just incredible film.  

But outstanding performances aside, another element that makes this motion picture so absolutely fascinating is the fact that it does not offer any answers. We never really find out why Ryan is the way he is. We as an audience never get a clear answer as to what will heal him or make his world better. We just know that he belongs in the skies, heading from place to place without a care in the world. We pity Ryan, yet we also in part admire him for his ability to escape the confines of our busy world and focus on a dream/goal, regardless of how silly others think it to be.

If by some chance you haven't seen this film, do so immediately. Trust me, this is one that will blow you away and in the process of showing you what life would be like if we got away from it all, it also makes you cherish the chaos that surrounds us since without it, we are just like Ryan, observing all the wonder of the world from far away, lost in the skies.  ​

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