Up in the Air **** ( 4 STARS) The great surprise of this film starring George Clooney as a traveling corporate hatchet man, is that it manages to humanize both sides of those who sit at the terrible table where layoffs are doled out. It would have been easy for director Jason Reitman to let the newly unemployed drift into melodrama; he didn't. It would have been easier still to vilify, at least a little, Clooney's bad-news bear; he doesn't. Instead, Reitman gives us the perfect movie for our times, with a near-perfect Clooney the cherry on top. "Up in the Air" turns out to be the quintessential upper. No drugs required.

Opening next Friday

Extraordinary Measures : (CBS Films) A young couple search for a researcher who might have a cure for their two children's rare genetic disorder. With Brendan Fraser, Harrison Ford and Keri Russell.

Legion : (Screen Gems) A group of strangers stranded in a desert diner and a lone angel are humanity's last defense against the wrath of God. With Paul Bettany and Kevin Durand.

The Tooth Fairy: (20th Century Fox) A bad deed on the part of a tough minor-league hockey player results in an unusual sentence: He must serve one week as a real-life tooth fairy. With Dwayne Johnson and Julie Andrews.

Opening Jan. 29

Edge of Darkness: (Warner Bros.) When a homicide detective investigates the death of his activist daughter, he uncovers not only her secret life, but a government cover-up. With Mel Gibson and Danny Huston.

When in Rome: (Touchstone Pictures) On a trip to Rome, a lovelorn New Yorker's luck changes when she impulsively steals some coins from a reputed fountain of love. With Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel.

Release dates are subject to change.