RobertHilburnOnline.com

    UP IN THE AIR
   √ Bob Certified

   George Clooney is so perfect as a modern “hired gun”—he’s brought in by corporations around the country to fire employees to spare the corporation’s own bosses from the chore—that it makes it easy at times to look past director Jason Reitman’s marvelous handling of the actor and the movie’s theme. Clooney is so distanced from the concept of family and friends that he’s the opposite of the normal traveler who can’t wait to get home. Clooney dreads the 40 or so days when he’s not traveling somewhere. Reitman and Clooney give us a look at loneliness versus community that is witty, sophisticated, thoughtful and deeply poignant. A mini-masterpiece that belongs with “Hurt Locker” at the top of any list of best films of 2009.