‘Tis the season to be Clooney. For all the reasons to love this talented actor, the charm, charisma, impeccable delivery, completely shaggable good looks; it’s his ability to take on fascinating roles in a variety of films that sets him apart. Up in the Air is a small film with a very simple plot, but Clooney gives it life. He plays Ryan Bingham, a high flying professional who believes that your life should be compact enough to fit inside one piece of luggage. That one piece of luggage better be small enough for carry-on, and it better have wheels. Set in a time when unemployment is rife in America, Bingham’s job earns him countless frequent flyer points doing the dirty work of spineless management; firing people. Jason Bateman makes a great cameo, Vera Farmiga plays his seemingly female equivalent, and relative new comer Anna Kendrick is a colleague full of ideas that he does not agree with. Director Jason Reitman (Thankyou for Smoking, Juno) does a great job of keeping the film exciting, and spares us a feel good ending. On a side note, Reitman actually uses real people in the film, not actors, who had been fired from their jobs. 
– Doug