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Up in the Air (2009)
In Jason Reitman's drama about a corporate hatchet-man
with an itinerant, isolated lifestyle and little personal roots,
during a time of economic crisis:
- the opening title credits accompanied with airplane
POV views of clouds
- the many images of satellite or overhead images of
various cities throughout the United States
- the character of Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), an
aloof, high-flying corporate down-sizer and consultant for an HR
company (Career Transition Counseling), introducing himself in voice-over
when firing employee Steve (Zach Galifianakis) [Note: In the film,
some were actual victims of recent layoffs.]: "Who the f--k
am I? Poor Steve has worked here for seven years. He's never had
a meeting with me before or passed me in the hall or told me a story
in the break room. And that's because I don't work here. I work for
another company that lends me out to pussies like Steve's boss who
don't have the balls to sack their own employees. And in some cases,
for good reason. Because, people do crazy s--t when they get fired"
- the many scenes of Bingham's swift, highly-organized,
systematic almost-choreographed packing of his carry-on suitcase
for his cross-country travels, and his equally-efficient passage
through the TSA checkpoint - he noted (in voice-over): "All
the things you probably hate about traveling - the recycled air,
the artificial lighting, the digital juice dispensers, the cheap
sushi - are warm reminders that I'm home"
- the three scenes of Ryan's delivery of motivational
lectures on his keynote topic: "What's in Your Backpack?";
in the first iteration, he recommended stuffing all one's materialistic
items into a backback - an escapist fantasy ("Imagine for a
second that you're carrying a backpack. I want you to feel the straps
on your shoulders. You feel them? Now, I want you to pack it with
all the stuff you have in your life..."); in the second, he
switched to stuffing all of one's personal relations and people:
("Feel the weight of that bag. Make no mistake, your relationships
are the heaviest components in your life. Do you feel the straps
cutting into your shoulders? All those negotiations and arguments
and secrets and compromises. You don’t need to carry all that
weight. Why don’t you set that bag down? Some animals were
meant to carry each other, to live symbiotically for a lifetime.
Star-crossed lovers, monogamous swans. We are not those animals.
The slower we move, the faster we die. We are not swans. We’re
sharks"); and during his third presentation in Las Vegas, he
left the stage when he realized that he no longer believed his own
philosophy
- the many reactions of terminated employees after receiving
news that they were let go, no longer needed or employed, or fired
- with hurt, bewilderment, anger, incomprehension, frustration, despair
and confusion - and even thoughts of suicide
- in a hotel bar, Bingham's acquaintance and instant
bonding with a like-minded 34 year-old soul - Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga),
a savvy nomadic traveler (his mirror image) always on the road who
mutually claimed with Bingham that there were no strings attached;
after sharing, comparing and boasting about club membership cards,
the two ended up in Ryan's room for a night of screwing (Alex: "I
liked how you burritoed me in the sofa cushions...Shame we didn't
make it to the closet"); when Ryan suggested: "We gotta
do this again" - they compared laptop schedules (side by side)
for their next sexual rendezvous; shortly later, Alex told him: "Just
think of me as yourself - only with a vagina"
Bingham's Bed-Mate: Alex (Vera Farmiga)
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Meeting Alex in a Hotel Bar
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Comparing Club
Membership Cards
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Sex-Talk
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On Laptops: Planning the Next Rendezvous
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- the home office scene when fast-rising, overly-ambitious,
driven and humorless 23 year-old Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick)
coldly described how the termination process would transition from
personal interactions to remote web-cams (known as GloCal video
conferencing) to slash expenditures; Bingham was commissioned by
his boss Craig Gregory to take Natalie on a typical road-trip of
terminations to teach the inexperienced newbie the art of firing
someone ("Show her the magic. Take her through the paces")
- the scene of Bingham's artful "wake-up call" firing
of Bob (J.K. Simmons), whose resume revealed Culinary Arts skills;
Bingham asked: "How much did they first pay you to give up on
your dreams?" and encouraged him to pursue his dreams in his
career transition: "And when were you gonna stop and come back
and do what makes you happy?... I see guys who work at the same company
their entire lives, guys exactly like you. They clock in, they clock
out and they never have a moment of happiness. You have an opportunity
here, Bob. This is a rebirth. If not for you, do it for your children"
- the scene of Natalie's lambasting of Ryan's solitary
life-style and lack of commitment - what she termed "bulls--t
philosophy"
- "The isolation? The traveling? Is that supposed to be charming?...It's
a cocoon of self-banishment....You have set up a way of life that basically
makes it impossible for you to have any kind of human connection. And
now, this woman comes along and somehow runs the gauntlet of your ridiculous
'life choice' and comes out on the other end smiling - just so you
can call her casual? I need to grow up? You're a twelve year old"
- the difficult scene of know-it-all Natalie losing
her composure when firing an older distraught employee Mr. Samuels
(Steve Eastin) via web-cam, although he was in the adjoining room,
when she ended the discussion abruptly: "Mr. Samuels, that's
all we can discuss now"
- the scene of Ryan's (with Alex) attendance at his
younger sister Julie's (Melanie Lynskey) wintry wedding in up-state
Wisconsin, when on the day of the wedding, Ryan encouraged the down-on-his-luck
groom Jim Miller (Danny McBride), a bearded real estate developer,
who was threatening to back out, that he should go through with the
wedding; as the two sat in a Sunday School room in the church with
Jim holding The Velveteen Rabbit book, Jim asked: "What's
the point?...I mean, what am I starting here?"; Ryan responded
with direct honesty:
"Jim, I'm not gonna lie. Marriage can be a pain in the ass. And
you're kind of right - this all is just stuff that leads to your eventual
demise...There's no point...I'm not normally the guy you would want
to talk to about stuff like this. Now, if you think about it - your
favorite memories, the most important moments in your life? Were you
alone?... Life's better with company.... Everybody needs a co-pilot"
- the sequence of Bingham's impulsive decision to leave
his third lecture and fly to Chicago and visit Alex's home - he was
shocked at the door when she opened it and he realized that she was
married with children - later, she explained on the phone:
"Look, I'm sorry I ruined your evening, but, I mean, you could
have seriously screwed things up for me. That's, that's my family.
That's my real life"; Bingham was stunned: "I thought I was
a part of your real life"; she responded: "I thought we signed
up for the same thing....I thought our relationship was perfectly clear.
You are an escape. You're a break from our normal lives. You're a parenthesis" -
he was flabbergasted: "I'm a parenthesis?"
- the scene of Bingham personally receiving from the
American Airlines Chief Pilot Maynard Finch (Sam Elliott) during
a flight, a silver card marked "7" - for achieving the
milestone of 10 million frequent flyer miles and Lifetime Exec Platinum
status - the 7th and youngest ever to achieve the honor; when asked
by the Chief Pilot: "So, where you from?", Bingham could
only reply: "I'm from here"
- in the ending, Bingham looked up at the gigantic airlines
destination board, and then was sitting alone in his modest Omaha
'hotel room-like' apartment, staring out - with his voice-over: "Tonight,
most people will be welcomed home by jumping dogs and squealing kids.
Their spouses will ask about their day and tonight they'll sleep.
The stars will wheel forth from their daytime hiding places. And
one of those lights, slightly brighter than the rest, will be my
wingtip, passing over"
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Corporate Down-Sizer Ryan Bingham
(George Clooney)
Reaction of Fired Employee Steve
Packing a Carry-On
Motivational Speech: "What's in Your Backpack?"
On the Road with Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick)
Bingham Encouraging Discouraged Bob to Go Back to Culinary
Arts as a "Rebirth"
Natalie Lecturing Bingham on His Life's Philosophy
The Firing of Mr. Samuels via Web-Cam
Talking "Cold-Feet" Groom Jim Out of Backing
Out
Alex at Her Chicago Home's Door
Alex: "That's my family. That's my real life"
Chief Pilot: "So where you from?" Ryan: "I'm
from here"
Destinations Board
Sitting Alone in His Modest Apartment in Omaha
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