George Clooney carried the whole film. He really was good, playing a rather smooth character travelling around the country firing people.

I did notice the product placement and there is a whole ethical debate coming out of that but this is not the place for that. For FTers there were lots of familiar things. The main character was very proud of his graphite (not plastic!) Concierge Key card; Concierge Key apparently exists. Whether the mythical AA 10million mile engraved card with your personal phone line on the back actually exists is another matter (I doubt it).

The film itself had a good story, was well paced and had some funny and sad moments. It is a very topical film and must have been shot right in the middle of the US recession, when so many people lost their jobs. As a romance story it also works well, I will not post any spoilers here. Of course there were lots of women in the audience, what do you expect

You can read this film in many different ways. It could be an old-fashioned romance story. Or, it could be a critical look at "mileage junkies" and the concept of rewarding loyalty gone mad. Or perhaps a look at contemporary America and a critique of how the recession had (and has) so many victims in terms of people losing their jobs and this devastating their lives. Lastly it could also be a look at gender roles, challenging our perceptions. I think the film is all of the above.