I WISH I COULD LIVE UP IN THE AIR, LITERALLY THOUGH

Imagine home being up in the air, having no major responsibility on land.

That's basically the core idea of the latest George Clooney movie, Up in the Air.

This piece took me 3 days to complete. I've been sitting down, trying to gather some writing mojo because seriously, I don't know how to put my thoughts about this movie into words. Perhaps there were too many to write or perhaps there really was nothing significant.

It wasn't really a bad movie but it is really not one that leaves a deep impression. Perhaps that's the problem about piecing this together.

This movie is about a traveling man, who knows everything about traveling on air. He knows the short cuts, the system and he practically glides through all the processes of checking-in and out.

George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham who hates 'baggages' - literally and metaphorically. That I guess explains why he travels light. He has a philosophy to live life without any 'luggage'; that is, a life without any commitments. That is basically why he loves his job which allows him to travel. His job, by the way, involves firing people. Yes, just firing people from their job. So he travels around the globe, to different companies, in which the bosses have no guts to fire his employees.

One day however, young and beautiful Natalie enters the company, introducing a new method of firing people, done through teleconferencing system (very much to Ryan's dismay). The new method is seen as more efficient as it cuts company's costs of having to send people around the globe to do the firing. The introduction of this system means that Ryan won't be able to travel anymore, disrupting his life routine that he enjoys. So, Ryan went all the way in explaining to his boss that the nature of his job needs him to be there for those people who are fired. He explained that Natalie is not experienced enough to know what the job requires. She don't know anything hands-on about firing people because she is new and thus, her system is only theoretically workable.

Ryan's boss then asked him to train Natalie since he said that she's inexperience. Plus who better to train the girl than Ryan since he has all the experience and is one of the best at the job.

Meanwhile, Ryan also met a lady, Alex, who travels a lot just like him. She seems like a decent lady, who enjoys his kinda lifestyle. She seems to love him a lot and doesn't mind not being his 'permanent' girl.

Natalie however feels that Ryan's being single and no commitment philosophy is total crap because she's a person who believes in finding a soul-mate and commitment. She also feels that Ryan is very unfair to Alex who seems to love him so much and he is not giving her any sense of commitment. 

Soon, after Natalie and Ryan's 'firing' adventures, their boss decided that it was time to implement the virtual firing system. Ryan was then place permanently in the office and that's when he suddenly realizes the truth in Natalie's words because he felt that he actually really love Alex and he does want to settle down and live his life with her, perhaps think of things like buying a house, or staying commitment and starting a family. 

So was it a happy ending for Ryan and Alex? What about Natalie? 

I guess I'll leave it hanging there for you guys lar haha. I mean, if I let the cat out, there's really nothing left to watch.

This is my first George Clooney movie (can you believe it??) ...hmm...oh well, if you disregard Batman and Robin. I actually understand why people say that he's the sexiest man on Earth because he really is attractive in a way. Okay, he's not like super duper handsome but there is something about him that gets you hooked. In some ways, he is pretty good in the movie. He plays his character with the right amount of sensuality with a mix of sweet gentlemanliness. Okay...total bull-crap! Haha but he is not bad here really.

The movie also stars Vera Farmiga (remember her? She was in the thriller "Orphan") as Alex. And there is also Anna Kendrick who stars as Natalie. If you watch "Twilight" and "New Moon", she is Jessica, Bella's blonde friend who has big boobs. She's kinda the bimbo in the movie but in this movie, she is smart, intelligent and very organized. I kinda really like her after watching this movie. I guess most of the funny parts can be credited to her. Though her character in this movie is the kinda person I know I would die living with (too organized and meticulous for my liking but I wouldn't mind getting her as a PA haha), I really think Anna did a great job playing the character.

I guess the movie highlights the theme of commitment vs. complete freedom. There's no right or wrong when it comes to what you want to do with your life - whether you're the kind who plans to have a family or a person who just want no commitments and enjoy life traveling and just living life.

So I wish all of you the best when it comes to your life decisions.

Cheers

TC-My Ratings:

With Lotsa Love,

TammyC

P/S:: Shutter Island's release has been postponed to April...

Excuse me if this review is super bad. I really have no mo-jo for this lolx =P