Sharp/witty, relevant, excels in all areas

Rating: 10/10 (20 January 2010)

Having flown >55k/yr for 4+yrs, I personally understand Ryan Bingham's (George Clooney) world: Blackberry in hand, efficiently filling grey TSA bins, hotel key cards as home key, snatching a boarding pass from a kiosk while by-passing non-Elite, living a week from rolling luggage, laptop on hotel WiFi, hotel shuttle as one's commute, and satellite offices as one's "home" office. These images of what people hate about travel are truly fond reminders of a frequent flyer's home. His Omaha office's and corporate apartment's sparseness both prove his fear of not being on the move. The camera carefully but quickly frames each fleeting postcard from the frequent flyer's world. Their world is not just a dream but a daily reality briefly hinted to some and lived by only a few.
Warning: frequent fliers expecting a rehash of their lives and loves will be disappointed. The movie must venture into emotional drama thus is not a documentary about high mileage.
Stereotypes of men as emotionally unavailable simpletons fall under Ryan's admissions of growing loneliness and desire to see someone more than once: his casual hotel fling, Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga). Ryan's purposefully designed world of emotional isolation, as many mature male knows, is unsustainable. Attending his sister's wedding pangs his conscience. His loyal partner/fling saves Ryan from a potentially lonely event. Life is a tease: we just want to be loved and to love.
New hire Natalie Keener's (Anna Kendrick) proposal of firing via videoconferencing grounds Ryan's high-flying ambitions. Her Ivy League psychology degree belies her chilly exterior, each glance able to efficiently e-fire an anonymous worker bee. Ryan's boss charges him with tour guiding Natalie through in-person firings on the road. Beyond the comedy of Natalie's new-to-flying hiccups is the familiar notion that coworkers become adopted families. Work experiences become unexpected opportunities to share personal revelations not told to even (or especially) family members. Personal, private turmoils burst into one's professional life. Work and life blur as working hours lengthen, as business travel forces ad hoc families.
The movie's purposeful shift to a ponderous ending comes after a series of unexpected turns. Emotional isolation becomes impossible. A family crisis undoes his intentional emotional distance from them. Each firing brings Ryan closer to his own firing. The trainee becomes the trainer. The unfamiliar world of frequent flying becomes too familiar. The theme song "Help Yourself" sarcastically toasts the new economy. This movie has its pulse on our lives. Widespread acclaim of the movie is thanks to its balancing a fun lifestyle which is based on true stories which relate to our lives: emotionally isolating 1-night stands, unforgivingly impersonal corporate climate, travel as general burden, and family rifts growing and healing. The movie covers much ground without ever leaving home ... pun intended.