Starring George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick
Mr. Ryan Bingham makes his living traveling from state to state, doing the firing for various companies who need to downsize. In times of a recession such as now, his job flourishes as there's plenty to do. He also moonlights as a motivational speaker, with a speech about "what's in your backpack?" talking about how we fill our lives with so much baggage we don't need. Living out of a suitcase, Bingham has grown accustomed to life on the road, spending the majority of the year away from home (which is a small 1 bedroom place he rents in Omaha). He has his routines that allow him to maneuver quickly and flawlessly through airport security and grants him access to all the exclusive airline and rental clubs. He has many many frequent flyer miles saved up, but there's a certain number he has in mind which he hasn't hit yet (10 million) - he's close, but not there yet. Hitting this mark, he would be only the 7th person to do so and gets a special exclusive card to carry with him and his name on the same of a plane.
One day, while sitting in an exclusive lounge waiting for his flight to board, he meets the lovely Alex who is a female version of himself. The 2 quickly begin comparing all their exclusive memberships they've earned, sharing traveling tricks and tips with each other, and quickly check into a hotel for a romp in the sack. They begin a casual relationship, looking over their schedules to determine when they'll be able in the same area so they can get together again.
Upon returning from his latest string of jobs, Bingham learns that pretty soon his traveling my come to a stop, as new college grad and employee Natalie has come up with a system that allows the traveling businessmen to work from the headquarters, firing people at various companies over a voicechat program like Skype with a provided script to walk people through it. Bingham can't believe this, as it would threaten his isolated secluded life and thwart his frequent flyer miles goes, and also, he feels as Natalie has no experience with the way they've been doing things and doesn't feel she's prepared to handle every possible situation that may arise when someone gets fired (we see some get very angry, some get emotional, some suicidal, etc). Complaining to his boss, and stumping Natalie in a role-play, it is decided that while they get the program ready for launch, Bingham can stay out on the road a bit longer, doing things "the old way" so long as Natalie goes with him to the learn the ropes.
Bingham, whom we're led to believe is in his 40s or early 50s, and his interactions with 23 year old Natalie are pretty amusing, as he first shows her the ropes of traveling light for quicker ease through the airport (the first day, she shows up with bulky old luggage). She later begins to challenge him and his way of isolated and secluded living, insisting he give Alex a real shot, as she seems to make him happy.
Up in the Air is an interesting movie as we see how constant traveling can affect people - in that regards, it's a bit of a cautionary tale of isolating yourself too much. We also see that firing people is never fun, but with the right tools and words you can encourage someone (in this case an older man who was close to retirement) to look at it as a positive as they'll finally have time to embrace and achieve their dreams and goals that got pushed to the side, giving them a fresh sense on life and a positive outlook. With the lack of care though and the wrong words, it can lead someone to get so down they contemplate suicide.
Be sure to check this one out, especially if you've ever done a lot of traveling or know of anyone who has.
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