George Clooney can even make getting fired sexy

Rating: 9/10 (13 March 2010)

Sometimes I just know from the first trailer that I am going to love a movie and this was the case with "Up in the Air". George Clooney in the guise of Ryan Bingham plays my favorite type of movie character - he is jaded, disconnected and likes it that way. He travels constantly and has it down to a science; so much so that I would say he is a airport screener's wet dream. His job is to travel around the country and fire people for upper and middle management types who can only be described as spineless. Sound depressing? It's not for him. He dreads spending time at home and has become a legend at the art of firing people. He gives his victims a short speech about how life has handed them an opportunity to follow their dreams, pats them on the head and sends them on the way. We are given a brilliant montage of reaction shots with the actors looking directly in the camera. My favorite is who I will call the "fuck you" lady who deserves some sort of Oscar. In his defense thought, you do feel that Ryan is not just spouting Oprah pop psychology and really believes the "follow your dreams" speech.
Since we meet him at the height of his game, we know he is in for a fall. This comes in the form of two women who in my opinion steal the movie. The first is Natalie (Anna Kendrick who is totally wasted in Twilight by the way) who threatens to ground Clooney by having possibly the worst idea in corporate history - cut down on travel costs and fire people via I- Chat. The second is Alex ( Vera Farmiga) a woman Ryan meets in a hotel lounge. In one of my favorite scenes the two flirt in the language of two people who spend too much time on the road. In some very witty dialogue they turn frequent flyer mile perks into near sexual fetish and share war stories about joining the mile high club. Alex tells Ryan very early on to think of her as "him but with a vagina" and by the end of the movie, trust me, you will believe her. I guess I gave my opinion away to early but I did really enjoy this movie from beginning to end.
One warning though, be very afraid if you are ever called into an office at work and sit down in front of a computer to see a smiling, oh so sincere, "Clooney"esque face looking back.