Clooney and Reitman Rise in Up in the Air by Ben Hayle, NMTV     Up in the Air, a new film by Jason Reitman (Juno and Thank You For Smoking) stars George Clooney as Ryan Bingham a professional business man who does the dirty work for companies all around the world. In this hilarious comedy Clooney’s character is brought in by companies to do a bosses least favorite task, fire an employee. Sometimes Bingham is called on to console, sometimes he is called on to calm, and sometimes he is called on to inspire. One thing is for sure, Clooney and Reitman have audiences laughing from the moment they sit down in the theatre.

The premise is simple; George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a man who travels around the country to various work places to conduct employee layoffs for executives who are too afraid to do the task themselves. While that premise seems simple this movie and its characters have many layers. Bingham is a man who only knows life on the road, he has more frequent flyer miles that many of us could ever imagine, he finds a kind of companionship with Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga) a businesswoman who enjoys the same lifestyle as him. Bingham’s life is thrown into disarray when a young upstart Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) convinces his boss (Jason Bateman) that there is no longer a need to send people like Bingham all over the country when their work can be done over the Internet, via video conferencing. The film hits its stride when Clooney and Kendrick head out on the road together as he tries to show her that what he does can not be done “over the phone” and it is during this trip that we learn why Bingham can not settle down and learn to live in one place. This film is highlighted by excellent and intelligent writing by Reitman and Sheldon Turner. The witty banter between Clooney, Farmiga, and Kendrick is exceptional. One scene in particular was memorable, when Bingham introduces Keener to Goran for the first time. Keener has just broken up with her boyfriend and proceeds to confide in Bingham and Goran, two people who have no idea how to have a real relationship. This film is funny from start to finish it is easily the funniest film that I have seen in 2009. What makes this film different from so many comedies’ that have come out of Hollywood recently is that it is actually intelligent humor instead of stupid humor. Don’t get me wrong there is a time and a place for stupid humor but it is just nice to see an intelligent comedy. With Up In The Air Reitman has proved that he is a comedic force to be reckoned with in Hollywood. After the success of Thank You For Smoking and Juno, Reitman has followed that up with possibly his best film to date. Up In The Air rises to the occasion and gets 4.5 stars out of 5. This film is rated R and appropriate for adult audiences, younger viewers would not enjoy the film as much as adults.