What is a perfect night at the movies? A splendid dinner before! Short ticket lines! Then a surprisingly deep film with George Clooney in the lead! The words “deep” and “George Clooney” typically don’t go hand in hand. But a strong novel by Walter Kirn and a director (Jason Reitman) who can bring into focus at the same time life’s joys and disappointments provide a platform for Clooney to deliver a compelling performance. Clooney is Ryan Bingham who travels some 320 days a year from one American city to another to fire people on behalf of their employer. Once in a while he also gives motivational speeches that have become so popular in many American hotel conference rooms.  Among the 300 odd million Americans, there may not be a single person who completely fits Bingham’s profile of being rather content although he has no family, no significant other, no close friends, and not even place to come home to.

But Bingham and the other characters in the film represent enough of everyone’s life in modern America that you can identify with the theme of the film. Coming on the heels of the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression, the movie’s timing is impeccable. Taking full advantage of the medium, Jason Reitman directs the camera to capture amazing pictures of America from up in the air. If you enjoyed American Beauty, Sideways, or About Schmidt you will walk out of Up in the Airnot elated, seemingly soaring into the blue sky, but deeply satisfied that you just have watched a remarkable movie.