Adequate

Rating: 5/10 (8 February 2010)

First: the good news.
Sound: good. Cinematography: good. Direction: good. Acting: good.
However.....
A reasonable idea for a plot - quite unlike anything else I've seen (which has to be a plus point, as so many films now are merely reheated yesterdays' dinners.) But the idea doesn't really *go* anywhere, at least not for the majority of the 109 minutes. Now, some movies can take this - and may in fact have the ennui as part of the atmosphere - but I don't think this is one of them.
Two possible endings were signposted loud and clear within the first fifteen minutes. Either Ryan was going to get the heave-ho himself (probably by his young trainee) or he was going to "find" himself and his lack of a real life, and realise that he was more comfortable chasing air miles.
So the only thing that kept this viewer in the cinema was wondering which ending was going to eventuate, or whether there was going to be a subtle twist at the end. It's not a spoiler to disclose that no, there *was* no subtle twist at the end! Having got all that off my chest I have to admit that I found "Up in the air" reasonably watchable in an inoffensive sort of way. As another reviewer has said, there are really two or three different stories here: however they are not woven together as sub-plots which is how a great movie, or book, maintains a hold on the audience. They are merely different strands of the story.
5/10 for me: easy enough, wouldn't see it a second time, wouldn't buy the DVD and, if asked, wouldn't put my vote in the Oscar box