Rating: B

It appears Jason Reitman finally knows where he stands.

The “Up in the Air” director, known best for 2007’s “Juno,” has finally taken off his training wheels, stopped pretending to be an indie filmmaker, gotten down to business and put out his best work yet.

The problem I’ve had with Reitman in the past is he tries to make his films something they’re not. “Juno” was a major production film in which Diablo Cody, the stripper-turned-filmmaker made famous by the film, was hired to develop a screenplay and turned out a film based on her high school experiences. It wasn’t the hip, indie rags-to-riches story people made it out to be. The same goes for “Thank You For Smoking” (which was still substantially better than “Juno”).

But in “Up in the Air,” Reitman finally realized his talent and lived up to his potential. The film is about a man named Ryan Bingham (played brilliantly by George Clooney) who makes his living traveling around the country firing employees for companies. He finds his enjoyable life derailed when a young, hotshot Cornell graduate (played, again wonderfully, by Anna Kendrick) introduces an idea for the company to conduct firings from home via Internet video chat.

Of course, Bingham finds himself grounded just as he meets a woman named Alex (played solidly by Vera Farmiga), who lives the same lifestyle as him and with whom he forms a casual relationship.

The film plays off the emotion, or lack thereof, of the characters and the casting choices were great. Clooney and Farmiga’s characters play up the fact that they are devoid of emotion. Family-less, friend-less, simply enjoying the simply nature of going from city to city letting their acquaintances drift in and out of their lives.

Kendrick’s character is quite different. She is young, brash and full of hope for a life set out of a fairy tale. As Clooney and Farmiga witness and aid her crash down to reality, the series of emotions she goes through is both heart wrenching and humorous– the perfect combination!

Of course, “Up in the Air” is not flawless. Reitman still falls into an unnecessary habit of using too many prolonged montage sequences with an overbearing soundtrack. Likewise, the film at times just seems downright corny, such as a scene toward the end where Clooney’s character has a conversation with a pilot after accomplishing one of his life goals.

But overall, “Up in the Air” succeeds where so many films have failed this year. It touches at the heart of the times as we witness dozens of people react to losing their jobs while an emotionless Clooney looks on. It combines humor with emotion, and is deserved of the praise it has gotten this award season.

Collin Whitchurch can be reached at 581-7944 or [email protected].