Up in the Air

George Clooney has teamed up with Jason Reitman, the Academy Award nominated director who brought us Thank You for Not Smoking and Juno, which won Best Screenplay. Clooney, who found fame as Dr Doug Ross in the hit TV drama ER, and later on starred in box office hits like Ocean's Eleven and directed the critically acclaimed Good Night, and Good Luck. Up in the Air is a film based on a novel of the same title by Walter Kirn.

The story revolves around Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), who travels around the country tasked with firing people. In fact, he lives out of a suitcase so much that he is nearing the ten millionth frequent flyer mile mark. Confident and self-assured, Ryan delivers motivational speeches wherever he stops, based on his ideology of freedom, with his motto "What's in Your Backpack".

Along the way, he meets another frequent flyer, Alex (Vera Farmiga), with whom he forms a romantic relationship. Back at the office, he meets Natalie (Anna Kendrick), a confident, self-assured girl who does basically the same job that he does, but over the Internet. He is skeptical of her, but their boss, played by Jason Bateman (who worked with Reitman on Juno), sends them off together on work duties.

During this expedition together, Ryan and Natalie both learn lessons about life from each other, despite their differences. Though he finally passes his ten millionth mile in the blue skies, Ryan finds that he isn't as elated as he thought he would be. Life is what you make of it, and this story captures the harsh reality of it.