Up in the Air

Up in the Air
George Clooney, Vera Farmiga

The buzz on this movie’s podium prospects has been getting louder for months—and, for once, the Oscar hype is merited. That’s especially true regarding Clooney, who plays a traveling corporate hatchet man whose company might be downsizing his unfettered bachelor lifestyle. Clooney, really hitting his stride in the prime of his career, displays new emotional range; while Up in the Air is certainly a comedy (from Jason Reitman, the director of Juno), it also plays exceedingly well as a study in veiled loneliness. Plus: nude trysts with the slinky Farmiga (The Departed).