Synopsis: Ryan Bingham (Academy Award winner George Clooney) is truly living the high life. Flying all over the world on business, he never stops moving…until he meets Alex, a fellow passenger and learns that life isn’t about the journey, but the connections we make along the way. Acclaimed by critics and audiences everywhere, Up In The Air is light and dark, hilarious and tragic, bouncy and brainy, romantic and real.” – Owen Glieberman, Entertainment Weekly
***********************************************************************

Up in the Air 8.5

George Clooney brings old-school Hollywood charm to this story of a transient man whose job keeps him living in a suitcase – but who is so skilled and enjoys his work so much that he becomes and remains disconnected from his humanity.

…that is, until a new “kid” is hired by his firm to cut costs and innovate and he finds himself shaken out of his comfortable routine.

This leads him to reconsider his work and his worldview, all the while finding love and bonding with his family in the process. As he trades off his smug contentment for smidges of warmth, his life shifts to the point that he will never look at it the same way again. For good or bad.

‘Up In The Air’ is a lovely and timely story about human connection and it can be seen in two lights: as a slightly-depressing account of the current state of things in North American culture or as a tale of hope in desperate times – as a sort of wake-up call before the evitable fall.

It’s all in the eye of the beholder – and it reveals the true power of great cinema.