Up in the Air - a MUST See Film!

If you want to see a powerful, incredibly well written film, go catch Up in the Air. It is a penetrating look at the vital role of human relationships in a fast-paced, techno-centric society. George Clooney puts forth an Oscar worthy performance as Jack Bingham, corporate hit man who travels 350,000 miles a year firing people, so that their bosses don’t have to. Bingham’s home is up in the air. He is at a complete loss during the 50-odd days per year he spends at his hotel-like, one bedroom apartment in Omaha.

The payoff for his fast-paced, airborne life style is becoming one of seven people ever to accumulate ten million miles with a single airline and, of courses, every conceivable gold card, executive club pass, hassle-free travel perk imaginable. The price: meaningful, enduring human relationships. Even his family has no idea who he is, where he lives, or exactly what he does.

Bingham’s unusually unencumbered life-style is challenged by two compelling female characters – a fellow high flying, miles accumulating vixen, who seems as detached and uninterested in commitment as Jack, and a young, naïve but book-smart trainee, who simply can’t comprehend Bingham’s priorities. In very different ways, this tandem of women gets through to Bingham. He actually ends up pursuing a relationship at the expense of his work schedule, once he realizes that his ten million mile club card isn’t worth the silver it’s engraved on.

As one in the midst of a painful separation and divorce, this film hit me hard at a number of levels. It made me question my life choices and priorities. What have I pursued at the expense of my primary relationships? What false idols have I chased or what greener pastures have I preferred to the hard work and daily grind of commitment? At several points in Up in the Air, Clooney’s character is accused of everything from avoidance and escapism, to behaving like a twelve-year-old. While my life has been lived completely on the ground, I’ve been accused of similar things. How often my writing projects have gotten in the way of relationships. I have often used work – a more predictable, controllable environment – as an escape from the so often unpredictable, uncontrollable people who await me at the place called "home."

There’s no question that nothing in life is as hard as close relationships. Witness the over 50% divorce rate. In both my family of origin and my family of choice, I have again and again taken to the friendlier skies of work, academia, individual pursuits, and singleness. And while I have figured out the deep truth the Jack Bingham comes to toward the end of the film – that ultimately it’s one’s relationships that matter most - I’ve yet to figure out how to make those relationships work in the often dreary daily-ness of life.

Fortunately, there is still time. God, as the bumper sticker says, isn’t finished with me yet. And my 2 year old daughter, Eloise, is teaching me life’s most important lessons every moment we are together.