An (Unfair) Comparison of Fight Club and Up In The Air

Up In The Air was Jason Reitman's latest campy romance, another decent story told the wrong way. And the more I watched, the more I realized Up In The Air was the exact opposite of Fight Club.
It's a bizarre, almost unfair comparison, but stay with me. I think I can use David Fincher's masterpiece to point out the flaws in Air's philosophy. I could do this with a lot of movies by just comparing them to better ones, but I think Fight Club and Up In The Air have a lot in common.
Well, first we have to admit that Fight Club's central themes are accurate. For the sake of argument, we will.


In Fight Club, Jack (Edward Norton) is a man unhappy with his job who flies around the country constantly. His profession is pretty evil - he tries to cover up whether the automobile-related deaths should initiate a recall. Frustrated with his current state, he starts a violent underground club to take his anger out as therapy and begins a casual, sex-only relationship with a strong independent and attractive woman. In the end, things get out of control and Jack wonders what he really wants.
In Up In The Air, Ryan (George Clooney) is a man happy with his job who flies around the country constantly. His profession is pretty evil - he fires people so their boss doesn't have to and somehow makes the victim feel okay with it. To justify his lifestyle, Ryan goes around doing weekend conferences as therapy and begins a casual, sex-only relationship with a strong independent and attractive woman. In the end, things get out of control and Ryan wonders what he really wants.

The first problem with Up In The Air is unbelievability. A character who is constantly flying, his job ruins people's lives, doesn't have a home to go to, no friends or close relatives and nothing but a string of meaningless relationships is supposed to be happy? He's happier than you and me, with our stupid love and possessions! And he mocks us for it. At least show the guy on anti-depressants.
In Fight Club, Jack is so depressed about his job that he hopes the plane will crash. He's stuck and despises all that fake hospitality airports and hotels hand out, whereas Ryan gets hard off it. All those layovers and time changes leads to his insomnia and eventual insanity. Whereas a programmed lifestyle is Ryan's way of feeling close to people, fight club and group therapy is Jack's way of feeling close to people.
But of course, Up In The Air is like almost every Hollywood film and won't let an asshole stay an asshole. So Ryan decides he actually does need people in his life. Somewhat lazily on Reitman's part, Ryan doesn't have enough time to actually do anything about this.
In Fight Club, Jack ends up destroying himself. This has nothing to do with his need for human connection so much as he realizes his job sucks and wants to change it.
The reason why everyone who is canned in Up In The Air is so miserable is because in American consumer culture your job is your identity. If you're fired, you have nothing. Fight Club says, fuck that. Let's rebuild society to fit our needs, not build our lives to fit society's. You are not your job, are you? Air tries to tell you are.
Up In The Air at first says, material possessions are dragging you down. Fight Club does this with more flair, but in the end, doesn't change it's mind. But why? You are not the shit you own, are you? Air tries to tell you are.
That's the difference in the main philosophy, both of which borrow from carpe diem, but go off in entirely different directions.
Fight Club says, your life sucks, so break it down and build something better. Up In The Air says your life sucks but you should just settle into it and whatever. Both ideas aren't that unique and at least Up In The Air was tangible. Somehow, I just can't imagine blowing up buildings to solve my petty problems, but what's wrong with Air is presentation. By the time Up In The Air gets to it's conclusion, I just didn't care.

And no, frankly, I don't want to be told the way to live my life is to settle down. In 2006, Fight Club changed the way I look at my life and life decisions. All Up In The Air managed to do was tell me I need to get married. Blah.

So in effect, Ryan Bingham is the exact opposite of Tyler Durden. Up In The Air wants you to accept your fate, Fight Club wants you decide it. Is that an unfair comparison? When reviewing a movie, you're not supposed to compare one film to another, but fuck it. Up In The Air really pissed me off.