Up in the Air/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Adaptation Displacement: Who here knows about the book? Even Walter Kirn acknowledges this.
  • Award Snub: Losing Best Adapted Screenplay to Precious.
    • For the first few months of Awards Season, both the film and George Clooney's performance were considered frontrunners in the Best Picture and Best Actor categories, then The Hurt Locker started gaining momentum as a BP contender, Crazy Hearts release was pushed forward, and Avatar came out, leaving poor Up in the Air behind in the dust.
  • Bittersweet Ending: In the book Ryan reveals that he has an appointment at the Mayo Clinic due to his blackouts and memory loss, and that he isn't telling anyone in case it's bad news.
  • Crowning Moment of Funny:
    • They weren't just sexting, they were BlackBerry Messenger...exting
    • Ryan and Alex getting off on each other's elite statuses.
    • Even while talking to a heartbroken girl, Ryan manages a snappy one liner.

Natalie: (sobbing) He broke up with me by text message!
Ryan: Wow. That's kinda like getting fired over the Internet.

    • The moment when Natalie starts crying about her break-up is quite hilarious too.
  • Crowning Moment of Heartwarming: Ryan giving Natalie a glowing letter of recommendation that helped her get hired at the place in San Francisco.
  • Ear Worm: 'Help Yourself', by Sad Brad Smith, the song played during the wedding scene.
    • 'Genova', a downbeat piano instrumental heard when Ryan and Natalie arrive in Detroit, and featured in the teaser trailer.
    • 'Goin' Home' by Dan Auberach, weird that a film about an emotionally distant man has so many heartwarming songs.
    • This land is my land!
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: Although neither the movie nor George Clooney won any Oscars, Ryan Bingham did.
  • Tear Jerker:
    • Ryan going to see Alex to start a relationship, only to see she is married with a family.
    • Ryan discovering that one of the people he fired committed suicide.
    • The shot of Natalie sitting in a room full of empty desk chairs.
    • The montage near the end, with all of the Real Life firees talking about how important their families are to them and how they'll help them get through being unemployed.
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