George Clooney's character may take comfort in technology in "Up in the Air," but in real life the last thing the actor wants is a Facebook page.
"I'd rather have a prostate exam," says Clooney, in response to an odd question from a Mexican journalist during a press conference for the film Saturday afternoon. "On live television by a guy with very cold hands," he adds.
In the movie Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a smooth-talking executive whose sole job is to fly in and fire people for companies that prefer to outsource their axings. He spends more than 300 days a year travelling, and his only goal in life is to reach the elite status of 10 million miles.
Although the movie certainly has its share of comedic moments (this is Clooney after all), the movie also touches on deeper issues of job loss and the economic crisis.
"When I started writing this movie we were in an economic boom and I was writing the movie more as a satire," says Oscar-nominated director and writer Jason Reitman. "Over the six years it took me to write this movie, obviously the world changed ... I realized that these satirical humour scenes about getting fired weren't so funny anymore."
The film was shooting in St. Louis and Detroit -- two of the hardest hit cities in the U.S. for job loss -- when Reitman decided the only way to tell this story was through real people.
An overwhelming number of people answered an ad he placed, asking to be interviewed for the movie. About 25 made it into the final cut, bringing a sobering reality to the story.
"As we were working on the film along the way it became clear that it was less and less a comedy ... and suddenly it felt more timely than ever. It felt like we were sort of at the exact right moment to be making the film," Clooney said.
The movie also looks at how technology is replacing human communication. Reitman says he found Walter Kirn's novel, on which the movie is based, still relevant because people are actually more disconnected than they've ever been.
"We think we're connected because we text each other and we can have web chats and we e-mail each other but we actually don't look in each other's eyes and have conversations anymore and we've become unfamiliar with the idea of home in general," says Reitman. "We can get off in an airport anywhere and feel some sort of familiarity but there is no real sense of community anymore."
And how much does the drifting Bingham, who prides himself on not getting tied down in relationships with anyone, resemble the real-life bachelor Clooney?
"We are the same height," says Clooney with his usual impeccable wit, deferring the question to Reitman.
"The first time you read the script you said you see some connections and that's what excites you about the script, that you want to stare it straight in the eyes," says Reitman to Clooney. "I thought that was incredibly brave and I think this is one of the most vulnerable performances you've ever done."
The movie also stars Jason Bateman as Bingham's boss, Vera Farmiga as his love interest and newcomer Anna Kendrick, who will be starring in the upcoming "New Moon," the second movie in the "Twilight" series.
