Up In The Air

Ah, that's better.

George Clooney is a Human Resources consultant whose job is to fire people. He
turns up to companies, to break the bad news to employees in as humane a way as
possible. He also has a sideline in public speaking and self-help in which he
advises people that property and people weigh them down and that they should
cut all ties, just like he does. He spends much of his time flying around the
country living out of carry-on luggage in a series of hotel rooms, spends about
a month at home per year, and that's the way he prefers it.

Into his life come a woman he meets in a hotel with a similar lifestyle who he
develops a relationship with, and a young girl "apprentice" who is working on
taking their company into firing people via videoconference, who he has to
introduce to the harsh realities of what he does. These two relationships
ultimately lead him to question his philosophy of life.

What this means is that this is a dark, bittersweet comedy drama, or perhaps
drama-which-is-frequently-witty-and-amusing, which has a lot of truth in it, I
would say. I know that I have, myself, been through a recession or two in my
time, and the picked-clean open plan offices and boardrooms stuffed with
unwanted cobalt bue office chairs struck a strong note of recognition with me.

In all, it's a great film, great script, charming performances, which doesn't
entirely go in the direction you might expect. Highly recommended.