"Up in the Air"

Comedy, Drama and Adaptation. Rated R. 1 hour and 49 mins.

Up in the Air is about a corporate executive, Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) who is hired to fire people at these companies all over the United States. He then meets Alex (Vera Farmiga) while flying and meets her at some of his layovers and develops a casual relationship with her.

Craig (Jason Bateman) is Ryan's boss and hired a tech grad, Natalie (Anna Kendrick), who has a cost-saving idea of firing people over the computer via video conferencing. The boss likes the idea and tries it. So Natalie travels with Ryan so he can show her how its done.

Natalie is a know it all, professional-type person, who has her whole life planned out in a timeline. When her boyfriend dumps her via text message, she is devastated and devotes her time to her carefully planned career.

As Ryan keeps meeting Alex all over the U.S., he gets an invitation to his sister's wedding. He decides to ask Alex to come to Milwaukee to accompany him as his date to her wedding. On the day of the wedding, the groom has cold feet and he is asked to convince him to go through with it. Even though he is a bachelor and has no intention of marrying, he reluctantly goes in to give him a pep talk about marriage. The marriage is on as planned.

As he rethinks his life, he realizes that he is lonely and wants Alex in his life. He flies to Chicago to meet up with her, as she opens the door, her facial expression says it all. You will have to find out what happens next.

The film runs for one hour and 49 minutes. It was distributed by Paramount Pictures. It had a limited opening on Dec. 4, with an expanded opening on Dec. 11 and a nationwide opening on Dec. 23. It is notimated for six Golden Globe Awards including Best Picture and Best Director, among many others.

I thought the movie was very dramatic and slow moving. There were sad parts when you see the reactions of sadness or anger of some of the recipients of his firings. Some parts of the film were shot at Detroit Metro Airport, which I recognized. The ending will shock everyone.

Overall Rating: C

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Photo credit: www.daemonsmovies.com

Up in the Air movie poster