Truly enjoyable

Rating: 7/10 (20 January 2010)

I guess you may have to be of a certain age to fully appreciate a film like this because I think you may have to have lived a few of these scenarios to understand where the characters are coming from. I see a lot of negative reviews of this picture and I would assume that most of them are from people under 30 or even 25. The term used the most is that the film is "boring", and I guess to a younger person who has not lived much would think a movie about a middle aged guy who loves to be in airports would be just that. I recently worked for 6 years as an adviser for a large company and had to travel almost every week here and abroad and let me tell you it gets to you quickly. One hotel becomes another and each city looks the same. I can see where Clooney's character of Ryan Bingham could learn to love it because it is how he escapes from the reality he refuses to face. He claims to not want family and a committed relationship but we begin to see that he does when he gets around his estranged sisters and falls for a mysterious woman who is his equal in not wanting to get serious, but she has different reasons. The chemistry between all the characters is great and Anna Kendrick is wonderful as the spunky newcomer who is a reflection of Ryan when he was young. What I liked best was that the movie does not end on a high note, no sappy wrapped up happiness. He gets screwed and has no one, it's the bed he chose to lie in and now it is all he has. The character of Ryan Bingham is an instant classic, a modern Willie Loman if you will, who's failures make us feel better about ourselves.