Up in the Air

Rating: 8/10 (3 November 2016)

Ryan Bingham spends every day on planes to different places, firing people. He is clever, efficient, and also pretty detached, and lonely, although he may not show it. His philosophy on life, which is delivered mostly through the speeches he gives about a backpack. He encourages first to let go of your things in order to move more freely, and next tells them to forget about their personal relationships, because they only anchor them down.
Ryan's lifestyle and personality don't allow for any long term relationships, and his job is centered around short bursts of human interaction, which he is good at. For instance, he meets Alex, a woman who is very similar to him in his lifestyle. Their first dialogue together shows their compatibility and they begin to meet every month or so. It is then a huge surprise when a new girl in his office named Natalie Keener presents a plan involving Internet video calls in which they fire employees in order to cut costs. This threatens Ryan's lifestyle of constantly moving, and the irony here is that despite how much Ryan moves around in his life, he can't handle a change to his system.
What he begins to realize through his travels with Natalie and his meet ups with Alex is that he shouldn't be alone. What currently drives him the most is his goal of getting 10,000,000 miles, but perhaps he finally found someone he can spend his life with. In many shots, Alex is shown above Ryan, as someone Ryan looks up to, unlike everything else in life, which he views from his comfortable chair in the sky.
He brings Alex to his sister's wedding, whom he barely knows, and he reveals a need to keep a meaningful relationship with his sister by asking to walk her down the aisle, but her fiance's uncle is already doing it. He doesn't realize that he is practically non-existent to them. He wants the positives of a long term relationship, but the lifestyle he's chosen has consumed him. Alex is the only person he has a chance with.
When Ryan is giving his speech to a room filled with people, he suddenly has a revelation. Unlike the past 2 seminars we have seen, the focus this time is not at all on the audience. The camera slowly closes in on Ryan, and before he can deliver his line about burning the backpack, he stops. When the camera cuts to behind him, his audience is completely out of focus. He is not there. He leaves and goes directly to Alex's house, finally realizing she is the one thing he doesn't want to let go.
She, however, has a life beyond her vacations. She has a home and a family, and is grounded by them. Ryan is her escape. Ryan, however isn't grounded by anything. He finally gets his 10 million miles, but it's not nearly what he expected it to be. It's ultimately more meaningless than marriage, which, while hard, is worth it. It keeps people motivated, while Ryan's 10 million mile goal was just a goal. Still, it's too late for him. He's gotta keep moving at this point, whether he wants to or not. The sad truth is that even if he wants to settle down, he can't catch up with those around him.
Natalie leaves the company, because, ironically, she can't handle goodbyes. This is why she detaches herself through video chat and text. Ryan remembers her however. He gives her a recommendation for her new job, but he must once again let go of his baggage and continue to move.