Staff Reporter

Jason Reitman is best known for his brilliant award-winning work in ‘Juno’, crowning him the king of sarcastic dry comedy.  ‘Up In The Air’ - worthy of the giggle in your gut and the continuous smile on your face - continues his reign.
George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a hatchet man whose job is to travel across the USA firing people. His life is spent in airport terminals and up in the air, perpetuating his isolated, lonely and arrogant lifestyle. His only real ambition: to clock up 10 million Frequent Flyer Miles.

The movie is a fitting image (and often desperate indictment) of the global recession and the way it affects peoples lives - and yet, ‘Up In The Air’ reveals so much more than we ever expected, or wanted to know.

Just consider the opening sequence: A montage of weeping men, desperate secretaries and blue collared middlemen who face total despair and suicidal emotions at the time of their termination. Bingham is calm and cold throughout, and yet a master at his job.

When a new employee - Natalie, played by Anna Kendrick - enters the picture, it threatens to unsettle his equilibrium. She hopes to cut costs by introducing a new technology whereby people are fired via web camera.

As old-school and experienced as he is, Ryan sets out to show her just why the personal touch is so important, exposing all too clearly that there’s more to this man than collecting customer loyalty cards.

Even more revealing is his airport fling with fellow frequent traveler (Vera Farmiga) that awakens a part of him he’d forgotten about, a side willing to explore real human emotions in an environment more feeling than the cold sterile halls of the airport terminal. But where it leads him is not as cliched as you might expect.

Nor is his relationship with his sister and her husband-to-be - the hilariously wacky premise of photographing their cardboard cutout in front of the country’s most famous buildings lays the groundwork for something much deeper.

Quite effortlessly then, ‘Up In The Air’ mixes the ennui, sadness and somewhat horrifying reality of how money rules our lives with a light soufflé humour that has you reeling with laughter instead of drowning in tears.

Worthy of all the award buzz, this is a real movie with heart.