Except "The Blind Side", the least of the Best Picture Oscar noms.

Rating: 6/10 (5 December 2011)

During late 2008 through 2009 the unemployment rolls swelled so much that 1 out of 10 Americans were out of work, a number that understates the problem because it leaves out those who have given up and either stopped looking or took low level hourly work. The most relevant number is more like 1 in 6. Against this backdrop, Jason Reitman's drama about a professional corporate hit-man couldn't be more topical, unfortunately this relevance has lead a lot of critics to overestimate the film. My major issue with the story is the "Sixth Sense" twist near the end. George Clooney's Ryan Bingham's torrid romance with a similarly transient Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga) is portrayed as very intimate (the film's R content comes largely from a single full dorsal nudity shot of Vera) so without spoiling the ending, shouldn't Ryan have seen some evidence of the twist. Also, given the constant interruption of cell phones, how was this secret held through the extended time they spend together at the sister's wedding. Also the critic's comparisons of the dialogue to old Billy Wilder movies (although this film reminded me most of "Desk Set" with was a Walter Lang film) seems a little generous. When it is talking about the business of firing people and travelling to do it, there are a number of sarcastic laughs and sharp insights but otherwise the script often drifts. Also, Ryan has a side business as a motivational speaker where he urges people to drop their burdensome attachments (something he has done to the point of hermetic airborne isolation). Doesn't real motivational speaking involve trying to get people to assume burdensome attachment? Having whined for about 300 words, I will say that the story's cynical and world-weary view of human relationships as we enter the teens very much as "Sideways" (among my favorite 3 films of all time) captured the earliest parts of the millennium's zeitgeist of over-indulgence, self-deception and unfulfilled dreams. In summary, I would say urge anyone over 35 to see the movie and warn anyone younger against it -- as far as you know your marriage will hold, your employer will take care of you when you get older and technological progress is always an improvement. You can wait to find out there is no Santa Clause.