"Make no mistake, moving is living."  These are the wise words of motivational speaker and termination expert Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), the lead character in "Up in the Air" the latest from writer/director and USC alum, Jason Reitman.

Living up to the reputation he earned with "Thank You For Smoking" and "Juno," Reitman gives audiences a film with an original storyline, stunningly well developed characters, and a timely, all too relatable topic.

Flying around the country firing employees for companies who want to avoid the unpleasant task, Ryan has created a life in perpetual motion. He feels more at home mid-air than he does in his bare bones Omaha apartment that serves as little more than a mailing address. His life satisfaction comes not from meaningful personal relationships, but rather from achieving the highest level of elite status in frequent flyer, renter, or guest programs.

Clooney's performance is stellar. He manages to give Ryan that icy allure that the unattainable seem to exude while still making him charming and likeable. Perhaps not unlike Clooney's own public persona, Ryan comes off as a bachelor with a good heart, but little patience for the baggage that comes from close personal relationships.  

Ryan's baggage free style is cramped when his boss insists he train a newbie employee, Natalie (Anna Kendrick). A Cornell graduate with her own ideas about how things should be done, Natalie is baffled by Ryan's isolated lifestyle and struggles with the emotional strain of firing for a living.

Kendrick, a relative newcomer, proves she can hold her own even around the likes of a powerhouse such as Clooney. She nails Natalie's Ivy League overachiever persona, with a tough as nails exterior, which betrays a shakier and more delicate interior.

Vera Farmiga also turns out a notable performance as Ryan's love interest and fellow frequent-flyer, Alex.

First-rate acting only gets a film so far of course, and "Up in the Air" wouldn't be so powerful were it not for a solid, though at times difficult to watch, storyline.  

Moviegoers who wish to escape from reality should probably skip this film because job loss is about as real as it gets in today's climate. Scene after scene of people being let go may cut close to the bone, but that's a good thing in this context.  

It may not be altogether uplifting, but the fact that the film deals with something on the minds of so many Americans in an honest and not sugar-coated way makes it all the more potent.

It's not just job loss the Reitman deals with so compellingly, but also the larger issue it brings up of humanity - and what better setting to explore such an issue than an airport.

Airports have long been a favorite cinematic device, and rightfully so (who didn't tear up a little during the famous "Love Actually" airport montage?).  Full of recycled air and artificial lighting it is somewhat ironic that, for better of worse, we tend to be at our most real in airports. They are a sort of microcosm of the vast scope of human connections, for better or worse - the hellos, the goodbyes, the helpful stranger lifting a bag, or the frazzled traveler screaming at an airline employee.  

"Up in the Air" artfully uses the airport and all it signifies in our society to capture both the tenacity and the fragility of these human connections. The result is a meaningful, if at times depressing film that leaves a lasting impression.