MOVIE: UP IN THE AIR

OMAHA, ST LOUIS, KANSAS CITY, TULSA, DES MOINES, MIAMI, MILWAUKEE, CHICAGO, SAN FRANCISCO. The names flicker above aerials of these cities but we get no more insight into their happenings than the film’s hero, Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) does. As a travelling business man, he exists inside hotels, their rooms, swimming pools and cocktail bars. With no strings attached and his feet firmly planted anywhere but on the ground, Bingham avoids reality – friendships and especially relationships, through work. When the company’s eager upstart Natalie ‘I type with a purpose’ Keener (Anna Kendrick) is sent along with him to learn the ropes, his routine is set adrift. Writer/Director Jason Reitman’s penchant for idiosyncratic characters makes for instant empathy with them and a lingering consideration of their troubles. (NG)