Did Jason Reitman Nix ‘Up In The Air’ Cancer Subplot?

Over at Jeff Wells’ Hollywood Elsewhere, Matthew Morettini has written an interesting, if not entirely compelling argument that Jason Reitman excised a key component of Ryan Bingham’s character from the book in the transition to film. If you haven’t seen the film, major spoilers abound. We warned you.

At the beginning of the film, there is a funny gag where Ryan Bingham is on a plane and thinks he hears the stewardess asking him, “Would you like the cancer?” It turns out she’s saying “Would you like the can, sir?” rather quickly. Ha ha. It’s an amusing moment, but in the film, it’s ultimately a throwaway gag that isn’t particularly revealing about Ryan Bingham.

In Walter Kirn’s book however, it’s an entirely different story. For those of you who haven’t read the novel (don’t worry, we haven’t either), in the book the last few pages have a twist ending in which “we learn he has been suffering from seizures, black-outs for hours on end, and has an upcoming appointment at the Mayo clinic for treatment of this unnamed affliction.” Ryan Bingham, it seems, is an unreliable narrator and it casts his entire journey in a whole new light.

Morettini goes on to argue on the elements of mortality in the film that may hint at a subplot that was scripted and perhaps excised to prevent the film from being overly manipulative. It’s an interesting theory, except that for Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner made that decision as they were writing. We reviewed the script way back in February of last year and there were no hints of twist endings, or cancer subplots in that draft. It’s clear that from the start, Reitman and Turner decided to slightly re-shape the character of Ryan Bingham and cast the film through the prism of an economic downturn not unlike the one that currently has its grips around the throat of the country.

The decision to cut the twist from Kirn’s novel is ultimately a good one. Instead, we get a sense that Ryan’s detachment from his family and from the people around him is a defense mechanism that allows him to perform his job without feeling the guilt that may be associated with it. Had they left it in, “Up In The Air,” may have the run the risk of being needlessly muddled, and yes, overly manipulative. While the Playlisters have butted heads over the merits of the “Up In The Air,” we think we can all agree that a “Seven Pounds”-style ending really isn’t necessary to the film.