Up in the Air

For those who watch movies for their visual appeal, Up in the Air offers more than its fair share of lookers. As a man who continues to age like a fine wine, George Clooney has a Cary Grant style about him -- casual, warm, sexy, with just the right amount of self-effacement to make him that much more desirable. Vera Farmiga has a more formal air about her, evoking the glamor of yesteryear yet oozing sex appeal without even trying. As for the rest of the cast, Jason Bateman and Anna Kendrick are both quite adorable, offsetting Clooney and Farmiga's old school movie star qualities with their quirky cuteness. Looks aside, these actors show off some impressive acting chops.

For those who watch movies for plot, Up in the Air presents some nice arcs and some great surprises over the course of two hours, making the time fly by (no pun intended, really). The movie starts off with Clooney and no doubt ends off with Clooney, focusing on his mile high club status (ahem) and his dreams of being the superelite of supereilte travelers. Along the way, his relationship with Farmiga, which develops out of a feisty competition over who has more travel status cache, is totally captivating, in all its sweet, daring, and hilarious glory. Clooney's work life and the potential elimination of 90% of his travel are made that much more dramatic by Bateman's cavalier attitude and Kendrick's naive presence. Finally, his interactions with his sisters, which involves getting a cardboard cutout through customs, adds an endearing bent to a movie with more somber qualities.

Finally, for those who watch movies for those deeper messages, Up in the Air is a humdinger. Based on how you interpret the characters and the outcomes of the story lines, this movie is either depressing or hopeful. The fact that you can take things either way may ultimately be the goal of the movie -- which is really quite ingenious if you think about it. Depending on your mood and personality, this movie can either reach into your inner sense of doom and gloom, or your inner sense of promise and resilience. Either way, what you come away with may be more a reflection of you than the movie itself. When Clooney stands beneath that flight board at the end of the movie, he has a choice. The message, however, isn't in what he chooses, but in the the fact that he has a choice.

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