Nothing Really Heavy . . . But Entertaining

Rating: 8/10 (3 January 2010)

George Clooney plays a clean-cut, suit-and-tie guy who wings around the country via American Airlines delivering the bad news to sacked employees because their bosses lack the intestinal fortitude to fire them. He is really good at his job and he has gotten to liking what he does because there is an art to telling people that they are fired. He also likes to give speeches to inspirational speeches to audiences about how to live without things. It is his back-pack speech. He is a bachelor who lives a frugal lifestyle and takes all the advantages that flying American Airlines offers. Along the way, he meets a delicious looking doll Alex Goran(Vera Farmiga of "Orphan") who flies all over, too, and they strike up an occasional romance with no strings attached. Corporate boss Craig Gregory (Jason Bateman of "Extract") calls our hero into the main office in Omaha and announces that the company wants to cut expenses by firing people on the Internet. Of course, Ryan (George Clooney) thinks that this is a bad idea for several good reasons. The individual who came up with this bright idea is a newbie Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) who likes to use some of the lines that Ryan wields in his interviews. Craig decides to let Ryan take Natalie out to show her the ropes. If you have ever flown or flown as much as Ryan has, the endless scenes in airport terminals will seem familiar.
"Up in the Air" springs several important surprises that may catch you blind and irony plays an important role in the narrative. Essentially, this movie is rather like the western movies where the veteran gunslinger teaches the green gunslingers all the tricks of the trade. J.K. Simmons of "Spiderman" movies, Sam Elliot, Danny McBride, and Zach Galifianakis of "The Hangover" all put in cameo appearances. Clooney is his usual polished self. "Up in the Air" is a good movie but it does not have the sarcasm of director Jason Reitman's previous films "Thank You For Smoking" and "Juno." This is the first movie that recognizes a fad where people have pictures of themselves taken in places that they have not visited.