I have always been a bit of a George Clooney fan, so when I heard that he had moved away from the alternative weirdness of Solaris and Michael Clayton, I hoped for a return of twinkly, sexy Dr Doug. I was not disappointed, but Up in the Air goes much deeper than an average romcom; this film is one that leaves you contemplating the loneliness of old age, and the implications of pursuing personal freedom. Ryan Bingham is a smooth and sophisticated businessman in his mid 40s, who spends over 300 days a year travelling the States to do the dirty work of big corporate bosses; he tells loyal and long-serving staff members that they are being fired, and in doing ...  Read the complete review

(film only review) Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) is a downsizing expert, a career transition or outplacement counsellor, in other words a chopper, a hatchet man who travels across the US of A firing employees whose bosses don't have the balls to do it themselves. The times are good for people like him, his own boss's eyes are gleaming when he talks about the economic crisis. 10.000 workers lose their jobs in the auto industry? Wonderful! More work for his firm. Bingham loves his job but what he loves even more is flying and collecting airmiles. He loves airports, he loves being greeted personally by the flight personnel, he loves sterile hotel ...  Read the complete review

At the risk of repeating myself, George Clooney is fast becoming the poster boy for lower budget and interesting films. Up in the Air continues that trend. In a topical film for these credit-crunch times, Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a corporate storm trooper, who flies in to firms, fires employees before flying on to another company. Shallow and anxious to avoid attachment, Bingham spends much of his time in airports or an aeroplane; his only goal to achieve 10,000,000 air miles. Depressing, eh? Not a bit of it. As with other Jason Reitman films, Up in the Air takes a serious subject and applies a keenly observed sense of humour, without ever ...  Read the complete review

Plot: Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) is a corporate downsizer. He flies around the country giving employees the bad news about their pending unemployment and offers them counselling as well as "options" for their future. He also speaks at seminars as a motivational guru stressing non-attachment in life. Despite sharing a home base with his soon to be married sister, Bingham's life is mostly in the air, where he aims to join the elite nine people who have won over a million air miles. Meanwhile he is told about a new system that will reduce the travelling, effectively firing people by online and is given an apprentice who is a dab hand at it. ...  Read the complete review

FILM ONLY REVIEW Ryan Bingham lives in the air. He works for a company who gets employed to sack people and travels around the country for the majority of the year. He is happy with his job and life and never wants to settle. Ryan meets Alex who is also a keen traveller. They bond over their reward cards and Ryan tells her that he has a goal of saving 10, 000,000 loyalty points so he can be the 7th man in history to do so and will get his name on the side of a plane. Ryan gets a call from his boss who explains that he must return to the office as they have news for all the employees. Ryan heads back only to learn that all of the employers are going ...  Read the complete review