Unemployment is no laughing matter…

although Up In The Air begs to differ.

Directed by Jason Reitman, whose last film was the universally adored Juno, this portrait of a loveless man, who earns his living by flying around America and making total strangers redundant, hardly sounds like cause for merriment.

In the current, harsh economic climate, any comedy that directly reminds us of the precariousness of our daily lives is challenging to say the least.

However, Reitman’s screenplay, co-written by Sheldon Turner and adapted from Walter Kirn’s novel, elegantly navigates a path between the bleak and the wryly amusing, helped in no small part by a charming lead performance from George Clooney.

Inevitably, there is some dramatic turbulence during this first class, 108-minute flight but thankfully, all of the main characters remain airborne.

Just.

Ryan Bingham (Clooney) spends more than 300 days a year firing employees he has never met before because their bosses are too chicken to do the dirty deed.

He has to weather the tears and tantrums, the pleas for a second chance and the occasional threat to commit suicide.

As a result of his demanding work, Ryan has no time for personal commitments.

He doesn’t have a girlfriend and has begrudgingly agreed to a request from sister Julie (Melanie Lynskey) and her fiance Jim (Danny McBride) to take photographs with a cardboard standee of the happy couple in various far-flung locations.

Ironically, Ryan is threatened with redundancy when efficiency expert Natalie (Anna Kendrick) puts forward a plan to their boss Craig (Jason Bateman) that agents should conduct terminations via video conferencing.

‘Before you revolutionise my business, you had better know my business,’ growls Ryan, dragging Natalie along to real-life consultations, where she witnesses the emotional devastation firsthand.

Meanwhile, the usually cool Mr Bingham falls under the spell of fellow jet-setter Alex (Vera Farmiga).

Up In The Air should secure Clooney another Oscar nomination as Best Actor, if not the actual statuette, for his mesmerising portrayal of a corporate middleman, who loathes the prospect of standing still and is now almost numb to the anguish he wreaks.

Kendrick is a delightful counterpoint as the Little Miss Goody Two Shoes, who tows the company line until Ryan and Alex ply her with drink at a corporate shindig and she finally lets loose, tactlessly telling the businesswoman, ‘You’re so pretty.

You’re exactly what I want to look like in 15 years!’ Her relationship with Clooney’s debonair mentor is the film’s heart and soul, like when Natalie faces a crisis of confidence over her boyfriend.

‘He broke up with you over text message? It’s kind of like firing someone over the internet!’ quips Ryan impishly.

The final act at Julie and Jim’s nuptials feels contrived but you can’t begrudge the characters a little happiness before the end credits roll.

• Release Date: Friday 15 January 2010
• Certificate: 15
• Runtime: 109mins

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