Corporate downsizing and frequent flyer rewards, luxury perks and severance packages — these are the benefits and pitfalls of the unsteady American economy, and Jason Reitman's dramedy makes it painfully, humorously clear that all our lives are UP IN THE AIR one way or another.  This film draws its strength from an unflinching acceptance of uncomforted times, led by an attractive cast who are much more than pretty people on the screen.  Best of all, what could have been a real downer story is leavened by promises and opportunities for hope ahead, and the truth behind the human resources pitch that endings can also be beginnings.

Confident master of his own destiny and corporate gun-for-hire whose job is to fire people, Ryan Bingham (Clooney) has his first class lifestyle planned down to the last efficient detail. His career clicking in a relentless clockwork tempo, Ryan lives his life above it all, flying from city to city to drop the axe on unsuspecting workers across America.  His impersonal work attitude keeps his own emotions at arm's length after sitting across a desk from thousands of bewildered, angry, shocked men and women.  Miami, St. Louis, Detroit, the story is the same every day but the lives Ryan touches change forever.  They're the ones getting fired, but it's Bingham who has 'let go' everyone in his life. Committed relationships and family ties are unwanted baggage which would only drag him down from his lofty view of the world.  Ryan's self-satisfying goal is to surpass ten million flyer miles and join the elite legends of the business jet set, allowing him to float perpetually above the heartbreak and disappointment below. 

But how does this agent of change respond when change forces itself upon Ryan?  Bingham's equally teflon-coated boss (Jason Bateman) throws a wrench into the status quo by adopting the high tech fire-online strategy of Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), effectively ringing the death knell for Ryan's roadwork in the skies.  With soaring travel costs and expensive perks make Ryan's downsizing tour of America cost inefficient and he must take Natalie on a final jaunt to road test her firing skills before the company implements her plan.  Natalie quickly learns the harsh lessons of firing workers face to face as professional animosity grows between them.  Meanwhile a layover encounter with attractive businesswoman Alex Goran (Farmiga) further complicates Bingham's life.  Her first class lifestyle and no-frills attitude toward relationships perfectly matches Ryan's sensibilities, that is until he develops feelings for her against his better judgment.  Bingham must finally confront the unsettling life transition challenge he burdens others with on a daily basis.  Natalie's emotion-stifling learning curve for layoffs causes Ryan to see his once comforting career with new eyes no longer blinded to the humanity around him.

Transition is the key theme for UP IN THE AIR and quite deliberately the film offers no neat solutions to such instability.  Yet the script, co-authored by Reitman and Sheldon Turner based on Walter Kirn's novel, offers glimmers of hope looking ahead, both for the economic climate of today and in the lives of those affected by drastic change.  Careful to avoid sappy sentiment while wading into such a socially relevant topic, this reality-grounded story walks a very fine edge between humor and pathos. As a director, Reitman once again demonstrates his enjoyably skewed perspective of the world, focusing on small truths in character and environment which accumulate to deepen the drama at hand: hotel rooms are cozy dens of comfort compared to Ryan's sterile, coldly-lit 'home' which echoes with loneliness.  Alex and Ryan are so exquisitely dressed for their business lives that they almost appear in costume when wearing casual clothes as their city-stopover romance grows.  Careful revelations by talented filmmakers up and down the credit lines.

Equally valued highlights from lead and supporting actors also enhance this story. J.K. Simmons delivers a splendid if brief performance as one of the lay off victims, rising and falling through emotional altitudes with deft skill reminiscent of his stellar performance in JUNO.  Amy Morton and Melanie Lynskey represent the family Ryan left behind with intimate heartache one only finds in that awkward limbo of relatives bonded together despite their disjointed lives. Danny McBride adds dramatic complexity to his well-known resume of stand out comedic talents as a struggling fiance about to marry into this fractured family.    Kudos as well to the array of non-actors who embody the string of angry, teary, shocked workers which Ryan and Natalie manufacture like so many link sausages until change shakes their worlds.

UP IN THE AIR is a film as much of its time as it is for its time. Some viewers find it charming while others a bit depressing, but such ambiguity and unease is fitting because the next chapter in this fiction-yet-real story hasn't been written yet.  What opens the film as a catch phrase for a man selling printed packets of career ressucitation becomes a mantra which should be taken to heart: even the greatest in history have failed and lost in their lives, but rose above adversity to succeed in their quests.  Endings can be beginnings for us all if we chose to embrace the challenge rather than succumb to it.  Much of the story takes place in "fly over" states which have been hit the hardest by a stumbling economy, yet those downsized workers cap the film with their own reasons to continue fighting the good fight: for family, self-esteem and even the resumption of their own dreams once sold out for corporate comfort. The futures of Ryan and Natalie are far from settled, but the open-ended reboot of their journeys delivers an honest if hopeful finale likely to prompt discussion after the end credits roll. UP IN THE AIR reminds us that bootstraps are still for pulling us up and out of hard times, and we still possess the power to uplift ourselves and each other.  As said with a past icon of hard times, together we can.