Up in the air - a fair summary of life in the 21st century!

Rating: 10/10 (29 December 2010)

Only George Clooney could make this movie work properly. A combination of his effortless charm, which would make anyone happy to be a part of his Career Transition plus the fact that he has truly eschewed the pipe and slippers and is still "living the dream".
But what is the "dream" really about? As Oscar Wilde says, there are only two certainties in life, death and taxes. In Bingham's case, you could substitute air-miles for taxes as Ryan's life is carefully tailored to maximise the former and minimise the latter. Living life in the fast lane doesn't change the destination, you just get there faster and miss out much of the interesting scenery along the way. Criss-crossing America just below the speed of sound whilst keeping Ryan looking as good as ever has still not moved him along through life's gateways.
Ryan's well rehearsed severance patter that keeps him at an emotional distance from those who are being let go is equally matched by the pre-formatted greetings he receives from the hotel frequent flyer priority check in desks. Ryan is at home in this world of the superficial where you can always expect a chocolate on your pillow before you go to sleep at night and a complete supply of miniature bottles of spirits in the mini-bar.
This lifestyle keeps Ryan "up in the air" and well on his way to reaching the mythical 10,000,000 mile club.
Meeting Alex upsets the equilibrium and the thought that he may have finally met "the one" is enough to bring Ryan back down to earth, appropriately enough going down not just to ground level but further still as he and Alex explore his roots.
Whilst this film can be seem by some as a little depressing, for those of us who are middle aged, it is a clear statement of life as we live it in the 21st century. We all remain "up in the air", despite all the apparent benefits of technological advances in our developed world. Instead, we have to live through the uncertainties generated by a world wide recession that mean that any of us could yet be subject to a visit by one of Ryan's colleagues. And yet, despite all this, it is clear that the main message of the film is that the essence of human life is contained in our connections with our humans, no matter how heavy they make our back pack. This is what makes truly worth living, even if the seven ages of man can sometimes seem to pass by in the blink of an eye.