Up In The Air is the new film from Jason Reitman (Thank You For Smoking and Juno) based on the book (also available from Audible) of the same name by Walter Kim.  It’s about Ryan Bingham (Clooney) who flies around the country to fire people for companies.  He’s at home in the air and the life that surrounds it, like hotels and rental cars.  He doesn’t carry much baggage, literally and figuratively and doesn’t feel comfortable when he’s not living this life.  One day he’s called back to the home office to learn that his company is starting in a new direction, where they won’t have people flying around but instead they’ll be doing the firing through video chats from the office.  This not only upsets Bingham because it means an end to his life in the air, but the thought of firing people in this manner offends him on a whole other level.  He shows the young girl who came up with the idea that firing someone is more complex than she thinks and his boss decides he should take her on the road and show her the ropes.  So reluctantly he heads off on what might be his final trip with the young Natalie (Anna Kendrick) by his side.

Story wise and even breakdown wise this film is extremely similar to Reitman’s first film Thank You For Smoking.  Both are essentially character studies of men who have different jobs that lead them to different lifestyles and how they deal with change and the world around them.  This one is less funny though and more serious.  That comparison isn’t a bad thing though.  Both movies are brilliant and both brilliantly skewer our society.  Jason Reitman is a great director.  He elicits wonderful performances from his actors and in general everything about his movies is just right, from the cinematography to the set dressing.  Also when he has a hand in the script the dialogue and plot are well thought out and very tight.

Anna Kendrick

It would have been easy to shove some bad love interest storyline in but instead the relationship between Ryan and Farmiga’s Alex is handled more realistically and in a way that fits into the film seamlessly.  The same for the Natalie character.  She could have been written as some two dimensional sidekick learning the ropes or even as a girl with a crush on Ryan.  Instead both women’s roles are fully realized and you really get what both of them are about.

The absolute worst thing I can say about this movie is that it’s sorta predictable.  If you’ve seen Thank You for Smokingthen you can see several steps ahead of the game but still this is a compelling look into a life.

I highly recommend getting yourself to a theatre to see this immediately.  Fandango is running a deal where if you buy advance tickets to Up in the Air you receive a free exclusive download soundtrack remix! So check that out.