Directed by Jason Reitman
Suave Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) seems to be leading a charmed life, jetting all over the country in first class and staying in the best hotels. Unencumbered by any sort of baggage, he only has carry-on luggage and even his relationship with fellow frequent flyer Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga) is a no-strings-attached on the road affair. Back home in Omaha, he has few possessions and his apartment is even barer than the plush hotel rooms he spends most of his time in. His ultimate goal is to achieve 10 million frequent flyer miles and his collection of gold-class cards allow him to avoid any kind of queuing as he works towards his target.
So what kind of job has all these perks? One where he is hired by companies as a “career transition counsellor†– a sugar-coated term for firing people when corporate executives don’t want to do the dirty work themselves. Business is booming and Ryan gives motivational talks in his spare time, travelling to conferences to tell people how to lead uncomplicated lives and travel light in this post modern world. However when enthusiastic young blood Nathalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) joins his company as an efficiency expert, his whole world is rocked by her proposed changes. As a cost-saving strategy, Natalie proposes that the firing be done by video conferencing.
There are some great one-liners in this fast-paced drama about someone from the younger generation throwing a grenade into the certainties of a baby-boomer life that has taken years to perfect. When Nathalie’s boyfriend breaks up with her via a text message, her perfect world is also shaken, though certainly not as much as the world of those they are firing. The unscripted cameos of actual people who have just been through the horrific experience of being fired bring the drama back to reality.
Lezly Herbert
