Is Up In The Air A Good Movie?

“Is Up In The Air a good movie?” The answers is both yes and no. My wife and I ventured out this New Years Day to see a new movie called “Up In The Air” starring George Clooney. As we made our way through the massive crowds who were showing up to see “Avatar” and Sherlock Holmes” - we eventually found ourselves in a small theater in the back of a giant movie house that housed 16 movie screens. The decision to watch “Up In The Air” today was all my idea, because I had read recently that this movie had been nominated for numerous “Golden Globe Awards” and there has been buzz that this movie could get a “Best Picture” nomination for an Oscar.

First let me say that this movie was not at all what I was expecting from the various movie trailers that I had seen both at a theater and also via the Internet online. Sure, the main premise for the movie was about a young, good looking man played by George Clooney, who traveled around the country firing people – but the level of depression that this movie left us with was totally unexpected. Put simply, if you are thinking about paying around $10 per ticket to watch “Up In The Air” and expecting a happy ending – please save your money. Both my wife and I said as we departed the theater today, that “Up In The Air” was a very depressing flick from start to finish.

On a positive note, I thought that George Clooney did a fantastic job in playing the lead character of Ryan Bingham and Vera Farmiga was drop dead gorgeous playing the part of George Clooney's love interest Alex Goran. In my opinion, “Up In The Air” would have been a much better movie if the director Jason Reitman would have taken the ending of this movie in a different direction. In hindsight, I am glad that we saw “Up In The Air” today, but knowing what I know now – I would have preferred to watch it on DVD at some future date - rather than spending almost $20 for both of us to watch it in a first run theater. There is a message for people who travel for a living to learn from this movie and that is not to do it – if you ever want to have any real meaning to your life.