UP IN THE AIR ☆☆☆ 1/2

A good story, and director Jason Reitman (of "Thank You for Smoking" and "Juno," and yes, son of Ivan "Ghostbusters" Reitman) brings out the humanity of "Up in the Air" better than anything else he's ever done. The movie is charming and very funny, but the drama seethes through just as well, hiding it's subtle poetic underpinnings, all evoked by good writing and an involved cast: George Clooney, Anna Kendrick, Vera Farmiga, Jason Bateman, Melanie Lynskey, Danny McBride, all give full character profiles or nuanced performances (I'll throw Sam Elliot in there for a nice comedic touch, mostly because I'm convinced he was playing himself).

And the timing couldn't have been better. With the economy in the dumps, "Up in the Air" finds Ryan Bingham, a corporate firing specialist, letting go more people in a single company than he would have a whole town five years earlier. We see all this through Natalie Keener, a young business pioneer, as office after office finds a list as long as Santa's naughty parchment of simple, hard workers to let go. Once we even see a very spacious office floor nearly empty, with scatterings of desks here and there. Reitman knows how fragile the material is, and presents it with just enough intimacy that we can watch without crying our eyes out, but feeling for every person fired by Clooney and his sure-fire (ha) verbal debriefing methods. Reitman even puts a nice touch with most of the fired-iees by actually casting real fired employees and having them lament on camera. Their testimonies are put together with a timely feel, evoking the times we live in with modest precision. And the testimonies are utilized at the end to help cement the film's point, which is further presented by Clooeny's Bingham through narration, "The stars will wheel forth from their daytime hiding places; and one of those, slightly brighter than the rest, will be my wingtip passing over." I wouldn't give anything away for spoilers, but "Up in the Air" has a great theme, and is uplifting in this economic climate.

"Up in the Air" was made for the right time, at the right time. Hopefully, audiences will appreciate it more when it hits wide on Christmas, though Oscar will certainly relish it, but it wouldn't need one night of glamour to be remembered forever. Let it's audience decide.