"What's in Your Backpack?"

Rating: 9/10 (28 December 2009)

There are some movies you see because you want to, and some you see because you have to. Little did I suspect that "Up In the Air" is both.
"What's in Your Backpack?" is the motivational speaking sideline of Ryan Bingham, the 'termination engineer' played by George Clooney in this movie, which deftly comes disguised as a romantic comedy – right down to a pivotal wedding scene- but really challenges us to consider what is in OUR backpacks – that we ARE all bogged down both by 'stuff' and by commitments to people. As Bingham preaches, we can chose not to be weighed down. As Bingham comes to realize, we can also make choices to refill our backpack with the things we want in our lives. We may all die alone, as Bingham points out, but it is how we enjoy the journey that is the central puzzle of life, and the object of this film.
Nothing in this film is pretentious or preachy. It is tightly crafted. Though it is a tad heavy with exposition early on, there is significant action – in Bingham's hotel beds; at a party; at a wedding- to entertain. There is humour and melodrama, done lightly – I barely teared up before the wedding, and then again towards the end.
The principal actors – Clooney, Vera Famiga, and relative newcomer Anna Kendrick as Bingham's foil, who demands that he consider whether his life has more meaning than accumulating 10 million American Airlines frequent flyer miles- all become their characters – never once do you see them acting. Kendrick is an especial surprise, playing a character who grows through the narrative, and convincing us of the transition.
Don't be fooled by the plot surrounding Bingham's job as a travelling harbinger of employment death – the film does not skip lightly over this reality, but, as he did in Juno with abortion and adoption, Jason Reitman folds this theme neatly into the mix.
In a decade of big explosion movies and computer animation, this human scaled film about real life is a rare treat.