Up in the Air

UP IN THE AIR (2009) - Sept. 13, 2009
Featuring what is quite possibly George Clooney's best performance, this was a really good movie about a guy whose job is to fly around the country and fire people. He feels more at home on airplanes and hotels than in his actual home, and he's obsessed with collecting ten million frequent flier miles. However, his friendship with a new coworker and a cross-country romance cause him to start rethinking his life. Surprisingly funny, this was a really well made movie, featuring performances that are uniformly superb. The film does a really good job of mixing drama and comedy -- the laughs always feel organic to the characters and the situations, and the more dramatic moments never feel incongruous with the comedy. Jason Reitman wrote and directed this film; I guess I have to rethink my opinion of him after the enjoyable but way over-rated Juno. This was a really accomplished, well made film, and unlike Juno, if it gets Oscar attention it'll actually deserve it. Certainly, I can't imagine that I'll see a better performance than Clooney's this year. ****