Up in the Air (2009)

Up in the Air deserves all the awards attention it has received and I expect Anna Kendrick (not Vera Farmiga) will win best supporting actress. George Clooney is excellent as the suave, dapper "outplacement consultant" Ryan Bingham, who jets all over the country to impose layoffs and smooth the jarring transition for those deemed to be downsized. (He's even distilled the possibility platitudes down to a perfectly timed patter.) He has no roots (physical or emotional) and his life's goal is to earn ten million frequent flyer miles. Meanwhile, young up-and-comer Natalie Keener (Kendrick) has sold management on digital downsizing -- communicating layoffs through two-way videoconferencing. Ryan is confident he can turn Natalie from her hubris but the clock is ticking then no more travel. Meanwhile he meets and begins to forge a connection with Alex Goran (Farmiga) that may or may not be reciprocated (since the connection is actually a shared sense of rootlessness). Up in the Air is a very smart movie that adroitly and humanely addresses the shock and pain of corporate layoffs as seen in the faces and the lives of those laid off (smartly played by amateur actors who had actually been laid off). Everyone's performance -- and I mean everyone's -- feels dead-on true and gripping. Up in the Air really got to me so I have no problem saying (as I feel certain most do) that it is easily one of the ten best movies of 2009. 5 stars.