benibn So sick movie, with well-known actors do it even worse.

mjcritelli After watching this film multiple times, I decided to write a review. It is a film that works on so many levels. George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, who has the unusual service assignment of terminating people employed by other companies. (For a long time, I thought this was a service that did not exist in the real world until I was an African safari and met two gentleman who delivered this kind of service in South Africa.)The title has a double meaning: Bingham is in the air virtually the entire year and has no significant connection to his residence. He has accumulated all his travel miles on American Airlines and he stays only in Hilton Hotels, so he has all sorts of privileges that only an elite handful of travelers ever achieve with these travel service providers. So, he is literally "up in the air" in the course of doing his job.However, he is "up in the air" metaphorically. He has no roots to any community. He has an affair with a fellow frequent traveler, extremely well played by Vera Farmiga. He has no long-term, serious relationship, even with his own sisters. In fact, one of the great pieces of acting comes when Clooney/Bingham has to figure out how to coax his sister's fiancé to go through with the wedding. Clooney/Bingham finds this exceptionally difficult to do because he has never been close to having a relationship that would lead to marriage. The most interesting part of the film is the juxtaposition of Clooney/Bingham's status as a receiver of very generous "loyalty" rewards with the role he plays in denying employees of many companies the reward for the loyalty they have shown to their organizations. He gets extra-special treatment, especially from American Airlines, but the employees who have given the best 30 years of their lives to their companies are brutally ushered out the door. To me, this is the most thought-provoking and unique part of the film. This is not a remake of a 1940's or 1950's film, or even a 1980's film, because the sophisticated rewards programs from which the Clooney/Bingham character benefits did not exist. In fact, they were just being introduced into the marketplace in the early 1980's. There are other great performances and subplots, including the mentoring relationship Clooney/Bingham has with a young professional very well played by Anna Kendrick. Jason Bateman seems quite authentic as Bingham's ultimate boss.However, the center of gravity of the film is the character George Clooney plays, as only he can play it, and the many ways in which he presents a complex, multi-dimensional portrayal of someone who is "up in the air."

serafinogm Multinational companies have no loyalties, not to nations, not to people, just to the bottom line! Those who "manage" these multinational sociopathic organizations pillage what they can so they never have to "work" again (e.g. Jack Welch)! This movie aptly demonstrates that the business model of the day (the neo-feudal model) cares not where they get their workers nor do they care where they get their customers, they just want to keep the elite happy while the managing sub-elite take what they can (e.g. stock options they can exercise for zero dollars) doing what they must to remain in power so they can plunder what they can for as long as they can! It's a race to the bottom for the 98% and an orgy of gluttony for the top 2%! The rest of us are or have become serfs or worse slaves and we bend over take our severance packages (if any at all) and roll over like the good dogs we are! Great movie for exposing this reality! Anna learn how to cry convincingly, that attempt was pathetic! There is a scene with Vera and George that grabs one's attention and George had little to do with it!

WubsTheFadger Short and Simple Review by WubsTheFadgerGeorge Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, and Jason Bateman all perform well. The story has a good mix of drama, comedy, and romance. The pacing can be a little slow, but the good acting helps push it through.The runtime is a little bit overlong but the ending does have some power behind it.Pros: Good acting, the mixture between drama, comedy, and romance are fluid, and a powerful endingCons: Overlong runtime and slow pacingOverall Rating: 7.2/10