--- title: "Up in the Air" year: 2009 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/up-in-the-air" fi1m_score: 74 critics_score: 72 critics_reviews: 18 published: "2026-09-20T07:35:31.117236+00:00" updated: "2026-09-20T07:35:56.929498+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Up in the Air (2009) Directed by Jason Reitman · 1h 50m · MPA R · Drama, Romance **Fi1m score: 74** · Critics 72 from 18 reviews *In a sentence:* George Clooney sacks half the Midwest and somehow we still envied his seat upgrade > Jason Reitman’s comedy about a man who fires people for a living is smooth, funny and well cast, and its best scenes belong to the sacked. The romance is slighter, and the last half hour reaches for a lesson it has not earned. ## Synopsis Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) fires people for a living. Companies that will not do it themselves hire his Omaha firm, and he flies in, delivers the news across a table and flies out, with a target of ten million air miles in mind. In a hotel bar he meets Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga), a fellow traveller who compares loyalty cards with him and asks for nothing more. His boss Craig Gregory (Jason Bateman) has hired Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), a graduate with a plan to do the firing by video link and ground the whole staff. Ryan is ordered to take her on the road and show her the job, while his sisters Kara (Amy Morton) and Julie (Melanie Lynskey) want him home in Wisconsin for a wedding. ## Review Ryan Bingham fires people. Companies that cannot face doing it themselves hire his firm, and he flies in, sits across a table from a stranger, explains that their position is no longer available and hands over a folder. He does this most days, and Jason Reitman’s film, written with Sheldon Turner from Walter Kirn’s novel, is about how much he enjoys it. It is a smooth, funny, well-cast 110 minutes with one great subject and one merely pleasant one, and it gives most of its time to the pleasant one. Clooney is exactly right for it. He plays Ryan as a man who has turned having no home into a set of skills, and the early stretch is a demonstration. Dana E. Glauberman cuts his packing and his walk through airport security to a brisk beat, shoes off, laptop out, belt coiled, and it plays like a routine he has rehearsed ten thousand times. Eric Steelberg lights the lounges and hotel corridors in a clean, cool, even light, so that everywhere Ryan goes looks like everywhere else, which is what he likes about it. Steve Saklad gives him rooms that could be in any city and one flat in Omaha with almost nothing in it. Danny Glicker puts him in grey suits that never crease. The best scenes are the firings. Reitman has put people who had recently lost their real jobs alongside the actors, and they talk to camera about what the work meant to them, and you can hear the difference. J.K. Simmons has one scene as Bob, a man who opens a folder of his children’s photographs, and Clooney’s answer to him is the only moment the film lets Ryan be good at his job for someone else’s sake. We found these scenes far harder to watch than the light tone around them had led us to expect. Nobody shouts. People ask what they are supposed to do on Monday morning. The camera stays on their faces and the film, for once, does not cut away. Vera Farmiga’s Alex meets Ryan in a hotel bar and they flirt by comparing loyalty cards, which is funnier and warmer than it has any right to be. Farmiga plays her as his match in every particular, a woman who travels as much as he does and asks for as little, and their scenes have the easy pace of two people who expect nothing. Anna Kendrick’s Natalie is the film’s engine. She arrives with a plan to do the firing by video link and ground the whole staff, and Kendrick gives her a rigid, over-prepared brightness that cracks a little further each time the road takes something off her. Jason Bateman, as the boss who sends the pair out together, does his dry executive turn and does it well. The trouble is the last half hour. Ryan is called home to Wisconsin for the wedding of his sister Julie (Melanie Lynskey) to Jim (Danny McBride), and a film that has been so exact about airports goes vague about families. Amy Morton, as his sister Kara, has the one scene there that lands, a long look at a brother who has missed everything. Then the script decides Ryan must learn something, and arranges events so that he does. We will not say what happens. We will say that a film which had been content to watch a man and let us judge him starts, in its final stretch, to judge him for us, and the soundtrack helps it along. Rolfe Kent’s score is light and unobtrusive; the songs laid over the travel montages are used often enough that by the fourth we were counting. Reitman’s *Thank You for Smoking* (2005) took a man with an indefensible job and never once asked him to apologise, and it was sharper for it. [*Juno*](https://film.one/film/juno) (2007) was warm and knew it. *Up in the Air* wants both and settles the question by being kind to Ryan at the end, which is the least interesting thing it could do with him. The opening, fields and cities seen from a great height while Sharon Jones sings ‘This Land Is Your Land’, promises a film about the country. What follows is a film about one man, and the country stays outside the window. See it for the firings, for Kendrick, and for Clooney and Farmiga in a hotel bar. It plays well at home, where something this smooth goes down easily and its lesson, when it comes, is easier to forgive. It runs 110 minutes and carries a 15. *Fi1m score 74, published 20 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics like it, and the reviews lean firmly positive. The praise gathers around George Clooney, whose frequent-flyer downsizer is called charming, amiable and quietly vulnerable, with Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick singled out almost as often for the wit and rapport they bring to the two women in his life. Reviewers also credit Reitman with balancing recession-era bleakness against light comedy without letting either swamp the other, and several point to the firing scenes featuring recently redundant workers as the moments that give the film its weight. The reservations are about polish. A handful of critics find it too smooth, a comedy with a message that upsets nobody and questions nothing, and object to a moralising third act and a reliance on musical montage. Slant Magazine and Time Out are the harshest, with Paste calling it formulaic and poorly timed. The spread is unusual: there is no middle ground, only admirers and a small, sharp group of dissenters. ### Reviews we read (18) - **Empire**, Ian Nathan (90/100, inferred): The critic praises the film's light touch on heavy themes of recession and isolation, highlighting Clooney's charismatic yet vulnerable performance as the frequent-flyer downsizer and Reitman's skillful direction that balances romance, comedy, and social commentary. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/air-2-review/) - **Film Comment**, Scott Foundas (85/100, inferred): The critic praises Reitman’s most accomplished film to date for its craft and avoidance of typical Hollywood patterns, highlighting the novelty of its focus on the workplace and the performances of non-actors in firing scenes that give the movie its soul. [Read](https://www.filmcomment.com/article/up-in-the-air-review/) - **The New Yorker**, Anthony Lane (85/100, inferred): The critic praises the film's sustained tension between its bleak backdrop of job losses and its blithe comic energy, highlighting Vera Farmiga's witty, layered performance as a standout. He notes Reitman's skill in balancing the tones but suggests a stronger emphasis on the darker elements. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/12/07/nowhere-man-2) - **The New York Times**, Manohla Dargis (80/100, inferred): The critic views the film as a tidy package that initially spotlights Clooney's charming loner but deepens by exploring how his actions affect those around him. She singles out the strong performances by Clooney and Farmiga for praise while noting some overused elements like the soundtrack. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/movies/04upinair.html) - **IndieWire**, Eric Kohn (70/100, inferred): The review lauds Clooney’s commanding lead turn as the corporate downsizer whose lifestyle is upended, singling out the timely handling of layoffs and character dynamics for praise. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/review-drifting-through-layoffs-clooney-plays-his-trumpcard-in-reitmans-up-in-the-air-2-246553/) - **Screen Daily** (70/100, inferred): The review praises the smart and poignant romantic comedy for gracefully addressing contemporary issues, anchored by Clooney’s flawless performance, and balancing laughs and pathos in its story of downsized workers and love’s redemptive power. It notes some narrative drawbacks but calls it Reitman’s most mature film. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/festivals/up-in-the-air/5005573.article) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (70/100, inferred): The critic describes the film as a smart, light cosmopolitan comedy that works well as an expertly made snack rather than a full meal. He singles out Clooney’s amiable, genial and sophisticated lead performance as perfectly suited to the role, along with the film’s attractive treatment of brand names and corporate identifiers. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/jan/14/up-in-the-air-review) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Stephen Farber (70/100, inferred): The critic praises the film's blend of cynicism and sentiment, highlighting George Clooney’s strong performance and the darkly hilarious moments while noting it remains biting and moving with clear-eyed intelligence. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/up-air-review-movie-2009-93466/) - **Slant Magazine**, Fernando F. Croce (30/100, inferred): The critic calls the film a smooth but glib rom-com-with-a-message that settles for polish over depth, praising the relaxed rapport between Clooney and Farmiga while complaining it offends no one and questions nothing. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/up-in-the-air/) - **Time Out**, Keith Uhlich (30/100, inferred): The critic finds Reitman’s film a rancid mix of acid and sugar that cancels itself out, with pedestrian visuals, reliance on musical montages, and a moralistic third act that feels alien to the characters. It acknowledges strong performances but faults the attempt to sum up the recession era. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/up-in-the-air) - **Den of Geek**, Luke Savage (5/5): The review calls the film the most mature and fully realised from Reitman and Clooney, praising its mix of humour and heart, real characters, and unpredictable ending that feels true to life. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/up-in-the-air-review/) - **Collider**, Matt Goldberg (A-): The critic calls it a great movie with a sharp script, astonishing direction, outstanding cast, and timely yet timeless themes. The film succeeds as a strong awards contender by focusing on an unlikely hero in a corporate downsizer who learns about meaningful connections. [Read](https://collider.com/up-in-the-air-review/) - **/Film**, Peter Sciretta (9/10): The critic calls it Reitman’s best film yet, charming, funny and moving with witty dialogue and layered performances that explore isolation and connection. They single out the authentic details of the frequent-flyer lifestyle and Anna Kendrick’s standout performance. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/505271/movie-review-jason-reitmans-up-in-the-air/) - **HeyUGuys**, Jon Lyus (4): The critic praises Reitman’s follow-up as his best work yet, an intelligent and funny indictment of corporate culture and modern disconnection that blends road movie, romance and existential themes. They single out the stellar ensemble performances, especially Clooney’s nuanced lead and strong supporting turns, for elevating the material. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/bfi-lff-review-up-in-the-air/) - **Digital Spy**, Mayer Nissim (80/100, inferred): The critic highlights the film’s witty dialogue, real emotional connectivity from the leads, and strong performances, especially from Clooney, Farmiga and Kendrick, calling it a modern classic that combines quirkiness with depth. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a192589/up-in-the-air/) - **Eye for Film**, Paul Griffiths (70/100, inferred): The critic calls the film an enjoyable if ultimately sentimental commentary on the times, crediting its timely subject and strong cast for keeping it airborne. They single out the real-life interviews with recently redundant workers for adding credibility, though noting they risk veering into mawkishness. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/up-in-the-air-film-review-by-paul-griffiths) - **The Playlist**, Rodrigo Perez (70/100, inferred): The critic finds the film funny, touching and timely in its humanizing of the economic crisis, with strong chemistry between Clooney and Kendrick. They single out its emotional restraint and occasional distance as keeping it from being fully profound or a complete winner. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/very-belated-tiff-review-up-in-air-20091008/) - **Paste**, Robert Davis (40/100, inferred): Despite fine acting from the leads, the film is uneven and formulaic, with Reitman stretching into contrivances that feel like a cynical bid for awards. It fetishizes the protagonist's efficiency but ultimately comes across as manipulative, timed poorly amid economic hardship. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/up-in-the-air/up-in-the-air) ## Details - **Director:** Jason Reitman - **Director:** Jason Reitman - **Screenplay:** Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner - **Novel:** Walter Kirn - **Cinematography:** Eric Steelberg - **Editor:** Dana E. Glauberman - **Music:** Rolfe Kent, Sharon Jones - **Production design:** Steve Saklad - **Costume design:** Danny Glicker - **Producer:** Jeffrey Clifford, Jason Reitman, Ivan Reitman - **Cast:** George Clooney as Ryan Bingham; Vera Farmiga as Alex Goran; Anna Kendrick as Natalie Keener; Sam Elliott as Maynard Finch; Amy Morton as Kara Bingham; Jason Bateman as Craig Gregory; Melanie Lynskey as Julie Bingham; J.K. Simmons as Bob - **Runtime:** 1h 50m - **Certificate (MPA):** R - **Release (the US):** 23 December 2009 - **Genres:** Drama, Romance - **Also in:** [Best Picture winners](https://film.one/collections/oscar-best-picture.md) (Nominee, 2009); [BAFTA Best Film winners](https://film.one/collections/bafta-best-film.md) (Nominee, 2009); [Golden Globe Best Drama winners](https://film.one/collections/golden-globe-drama.md) (Nominee, 2009) - **Budget:** $25 million - **Box office:** $167 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En0DYdjMVoY ## Where to watch in the US - The Roku Channel: add-on, hd - Amazon Prime Video: add-on, uhd - Apple TV: add-on, uhd - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, hd - Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd - Apple TV: buy $14.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $14.99, hd *Checked 2026-09-20.* Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, AZ, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Academy Awards 2010: Best Actor (nominated); Best Director (nominated); Best Picture (nominated); Best Supporting Actress (nominated); Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated) - Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Film 2009: Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Film (won) ## If you liked this - *The Apartment* (1960), Fi1m 91: Billy Wilder’s office romance: the lonely company man, decades earlier and sadder. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-apartment.md) - *Toni Erdmann* (2016), Fi1m 86: A German father haunts his consultant daughter’s corporate life; long, odd and funnier. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/toni-erdmann.md) - *Lost in Translation* (2003), Fi1m 86: Two strangers in a hotel, killing time together, with nothing to lose. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/lost-in-translation.md) - *The Company Men* (2010): The other side of the table: the men who were handed the folder. - *Thank You for Smoking* (2005): Reitman’s first film, sharper, about a man who never apologises for his job. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/up-in-the-air