Up in the Air (2009)

Gary liked this movie, but I flat-out loved it. In talking about it afterwards (and the conversation went on for more than a week -- it's that kind of movie), I realized that our basic understandings of what happened were different, which was why we couldn't quite agree on what it meant.

He saw the story of an emotionally-removed man who admits, at the urging of others, that there's a lack in his life and takes steps to find what's missing. I saw the story of a very content man and the busybodies who refuse to believe that contentedness could look like anything other than the "house, family, true love" standard.

Little story: when my younger son was about six years old, he played baseball in a youth league. He didn't really understand the rules but, for the first two games, every time he stepped up to the plate, he hit the pitched ball hard and was able to make it to at least first base. He liked baseball a lot for those two games. Then the coach decided to teach him how to hit the ball because AJ wasn't "doing it quite right." There was talk about stance and bat position and, hand to heaven, AJ didn't hit another ball the entire season.

That's what this movie reminded me of. The hero of the story wasn't lost or unhappy...but enough people insisted that he should be. What gave them the right? And, more importantly, why is it so hard to dismiss joy-killing criticism?

A+