I’ve never found George Clooney to be a great actor.  He can be funny (O Brother, Where Art Thou) and carries his particular attitude-filled charm quite easily (Ocean’s 11 being a perfect example).  But when I heard rave reviews for Up in the Air, directed by Jason Reitman, I felt I had to give it a shot.  Reitman is very capable, and the plot seemed original enough to withstand scrutiny: Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) fires people for a living.  His company is hired by other companies to handle the firing and transition process.  His entire life is flying from city to city and telling people they no longer have a job.  That got me…I was ready to see how this worked.

Bingham enjoys his life on the road.  His character is a suave, charismatic alternate to the never-home Del Griffith in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (the late John Candy).  While Del pined for his old life, when his wife was still alive, Ryan Bingham has no wish to spend time in his tiny apartment.  Home, for him, is in the air.  Hotels, airports, offices, and airplane seats are where he feels comfortable.  He even gives occasional motivational speeches, titled “What is in Your Backpack” to teach people how to live their lives without anything tying them down.  Material possessions, friends, family…to Bingham they are unnecessary.  They slow you down.  “The slower you move,” he tells one group “the faster you die.”  In fact, the only possession Clooney prizes are his frequent flier miles.  They are, to him, his goal in life.

Jason Bateman, who plays Clooney’s boss, calls him back to the home office in Omaha.  A young addition to the firm named Natalie (Anna Kendrick) has designed a process which allows the company to fire people via webcam.  This would save the company a tremendous amount of money, and allow them to handle a larger client base.  However, it would also force Clooney to spend his life in Omaha.  That is a situation he cannot accept.  And, in essence, his argument is a sound one: firing people is a tremendously personal process, and to do it in such an impersonal manner is a terrible idea.  After a little office demonstration to reveal that she doesn’t have a tremendous grasp on what the firing process is truly like, Bateman orders Natalie to accompany Bingham on a road trip so he can “show her the ropes.”

Much of the humor in Up in the Air is found in Bingham’s perfection of the travel process.  He lives out of one small rolling bag.  He knows which rental car agencies are the fastest, which line to get in at the security checkpoint, and what to eat based on the per diem the company allows.  He also strikes up a relationship with fellow traveler Alex (Vera Farmiga) who he meets at an airport lounge, where they compare travel status cards.  Soon that relationship grows, which begins to complicate Bingham’s life…his “backpack” is no longer empty.

The mix of both bold and quiet humor, combined with old fashioned romanticism and the overall question of purpose in life (for all the major characters, not to mention the nameless individuals Clooney and his young pupil have to fire along the way) create a delicate balance, and a very powerful film.  I wouldn’t be nominating Clooney for an Academy Award (in fact, I felt Kendrick gave the strongest performance as she walked the tightrope between self-assured go-getter and confused young adult) but I do highly recommend Up in the Air.  It’s one of those quality, moving, though-provoking adult films which answer no questions, but still serve a great purpose.