MovieChat Forums > Up in the Air (2009) Discussion > God, the last twenty minutes just kill m...

God, the last twenty minutes just kill me. *Spoilers*


Ryan finally realizes, at that one moment when he is giving his last "what's in your backpack?" speech, that his entire philosophy is exactly what everyone says it is: Bullsht... Only to find out the one woman who helped him realize that he was capable of making a connection, of wanting to commit to something, had been lying to him the entire time. Major punch in the gut.

And then comes the final scene... Every person he has fired is likely to be struggling financially, while Ryan has the ability to go wherever he wants and do whatever he wants whenever he wants it... But they're better off than he'll ever be. They have loved ones they've held close, people who will help them through the darkest points of their lives... Ryan realizes at the end that he truly has no one but himself.

I'd like to think the film ends with a glimmer of hope, that Ryan will eventually find a place to settle down and start a real life, maybe stay connected to Natalie, who he's obviously come to see as a surrogate daughter, as well his sisters and now brother-in-law... But I still can't deny the absolute gut-punch that the last twenty minutes created.

I love the message of this film... A life without commitment, without connections is ultimately empty... Ultimately meaningless.

Beautiful film. Seriously beautiful.

Troll the respawn, Jeremy.

reply

Great observation and very well said! I agree with you 100% and also wanted to add that his early response to Natalie finally rings true for his own life... "We are here to make limbo tolerable, to ferry wounded souls across the river of dread until the point were hope is dimly visible. And then stop the boat, shove them in the water and make them swim."

reply

I liked the ending and it didn't go the typical immediate happy ending route, but the film was too slick and glossy and stylized for me and that took a lot away from it.

I think this review says pretty much what I feel:

I had a slight problem regarding the level of realism in the film, I felt that the air-commuter lifestyle that was being shown was over-slicked, like I was watching something of a feather with The Consequences Of Love (or Giulia Doesn't Sleep At Night, two of the great modern hyper-stylised films from Italy). Nothing wrong with stylisation, except that I think Jason was trying to go for a film that had a lot of resonance with Recession America. I felt it was awkward to introduce real-life folks at the end, and also realistic looking termination assessments (or whatever they're called when you can someone), when the actors such as Clooney and Vera Farmiga were just so damned suave, as if from a different universe.


Very good. But brick not hit back!

reply

Wonderfully said and I absolutely agree. I never saw that ending coming and when it did it hit me hard. Such a fantastic movie with a terrific performance from Clooney.

reply

His philosophy was not *beep* marriage is just a scam that mostly benefits women. I applaud this film for not having the main character becoming another Blue pilled white knight believing the fairy tales that the media tries to paint marriage as.

YOU DON'T TELL ME WUT I TELL YOU WUT

reply