Travel light

Rating: 7/10 (2 February 2014)

Up in the Air has many corporate digs. Clooney plays a corporate consultant who criss crosses America firing people on behalf of bosses who are afraid to do so.
He is a lone, solitary man with no baggage and a love of frequent flyer points. Hence when he gives corporate talks he always focuses on baggage straps that dig into you.
His boss played by Jason Bateman sees the recession as a golden opportunity for growth for his company as it means more people will be laid off. When he hires a young, smart executive (Anna Kendrick) to fire people via the internet. It means less consultants who travel, he is even more buoyed.
Clooney sees the flaws in these plans. After all he is skilled in these face to face encounters. If it happened via the computer, the sacked employee will just walk off with the computer!
Clooney takes Kendrick on the road with him to give her some experience in corporate downsizing as well as travelling on planes efficiently.
Along the way Clooney encounters a female version of himself as they have a romantic encounter and invites her to be a date at a family wedding.
The film is a comedy drama which takes barb shots at corporate America. It also has an insight on the empty, shallow lives of some corporate executives who may be smart and can flee at a moment's notice with no possessions. This contrasts with the people they fire who have mortgages, families and bills to pay.
Eventually Clooney reaches the target of his air miles but he is literally up in the air with nowhere to go.