Up in the Air

Off Friday kicks off a 4-day weekend. Did some b-day shopping for APD and then caught the third flick in our stretched-out-over-a-couple-of-months George Clooney Film Festival: Up in the Air. This one was much better than The Men Who Stare at Goats (ok) or Fantastic Mr. Fox (pretty good). Was one of those rare films where you wished it would just keep going.

There were lots of interesting themes crammed into 96 minutes (e.g., career vs. family, the value of loyalty, getting older), but the coolest theme in Dolberry's opinion was the running discussion about the value of relationships and the subtheme conflict between technology and humanity.  Won't give away the whole movie, but Clooney's character believes human relationships are nothing more than baggage to be lugged clumsily around life.  When his company essentially adopts the same line of thinking and attempts to replace the human element of his job (firing people) with a impersonal technological surrogate, he experiences a series of events that causes him to reconsider his perspective.  Very cool how that played out. 

(Another cool thing about the movie was that it took place mostly in the Midwest in places like Omaha, St. Louis, Chicago, and northern Wisconsin.  There was even a subtle reference to Louisville, though it was a dig at the Derby City (or at least Standiford Field, SDF).)

The word "relational" seems to be one of the buzz words of the 21st century ... e.g., life is "relational".  Not exactly sure what that means ... but do appreciate the relationships I have w/ all you guys ... so thanks!  And go see this one, if you haven't already (oh yeah ... and your over 17).