Heartthrob Clooney can't save turgid, uninspired tale of corporate downsizing

Rating: 3/10 (20 March 2010)

With the plague of 'corporate downsizing' now reaching its zenith, such a social phenomenon is bound to come to the attention of Hollywood's top name producers. Hence, Jason Reitman, son of famous Hollywood producer/director Ivan Reitman, has been given the reins to address this very issue. It also helps to have heart-throb George Clooney in the role of corporate down-sizer Ryan Bingham, who flies around the country as a sort of 'hired gun', informing various downsized employees that their services are no longer required.
Soon a young upstart, Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), comes up with the brilliant idea of firing employees via a computer video linkup. One wonders why Ryan's company hadn't embraced this method years before, since obviously it is much more cost effective. And it's also hard to believe that a new employee such as Natalie, who is just out of school, would be the one introducing the new prototype as these video linkups (as just pointed out) have not only been around for quite some time but it's more likely a more experienced person would probably be responsible for developing or customizing it.
Somehow Ryan convinces his boss that 'face-to-face' firings still are much more preferable to firings via computer and that Natalie needs to understand the value of the 'human touch'. Ryan's boss puts the video project on hold and allows Ryan to keep jetting about firing people in person as long as Natalie accompanies him. This of course allows 'Up in the Air' to become something of a 'buddy' picture with Ryan and Natalie 'duking it out' over the nature of relationships. When Natalie finds out that Ryan has been having a casual affair with Alex, who he is constantly meeting up with while on the road, she castigates him for not getting involved. Let me add that Natalie only becomes emotional over this issue after she has been dumped by her own boyfriend (via text message). For the most part, she is a one-note cold fish who soon learns the delicate art of firing people face to face, under Ryan's tutelage.
Not much happens during the 'second act' of 'Up in the Air'. Director Reitman spends too much time presenting cameos of real-life people recreating their reactions to the news that they've been downsized. Was it necessary to 'pad' the film with these cameos? Basically one minute of the fired employees would have been enough to convey the despair of these hapless people. There are additional repetitious scenes with Ryan, while moonlighting as a motivational speaker, utilizing a backpack to illustrate his 'life philosophy' to an audience of self-help junkies at various hotel conference rooms. Reitman wastes additional time with a scene where the three principals attend a corporate party, culminating with a 'heart-to-heart' talk between Alex and Ryan on a corporate yacht.
You would think that the big 'Act Two Climax' would have something to do with the relationship between Ryan, Alex and Natalie, but it doesn't. Instead, there's an awkward subplot that pops up involving Ryan's sister's fiancé who gets cold feet just before he's about to get married. Ryan is called in by his other sister and uses his 'motivational speaker' skills to convince the errant husband-to-be, to go ahead with the wedding—which of course he does and the couple live happily ever after.
The wrap up of Act Three is decidedly a downer—and thoroughly unconvincing to boot. Despite the fact that Alex attends Ryan's sister's wedding and seemingly is now ready to become more involved with him, it just doesn't turn out that way. After giving up his motivational speaker gig, Ryan somehow finds Alex's home address and knocks on her door—only to discover that she is a married woman. Since Alex only wanted a casual relationship, it would have been much easier for her to simply tell Ryan that she was married and there would have been no hard feelings. But since the film's screenwriter was desperate to create some kind of drama (and there is so little of it in this film), we're treated to the unlikely scenario of Ryan being deflated when he discovers the true nature of Alex's marital status. As for Natalie, she quits the company after learning that one of the downsized employees that she had fired, killed herself. It appears that both Ryan and Natalie did not heed this particular employee's pronouncement while on one of their firing jaunts, as the woman did indeed explicitly state that she was going to jump off a bridge. Inexplicably, Ryan's boss puts the computer video link program on hold despite the fact that the communication between Ryan and Natalie and this particular employee, took place face to face!
Up in the Air is a slow-moving 'dramedy' with an underdeveloped plot. While it's a very nice-looking film, the actors can do very little with their parts due to the weak script. Clooney basically plays himself (as he usually does) and offers up an only serviceable performance. On the basis of director Reitman's last two films ('Juno' preceded 'Up in the Air'), it's likely we'll be seeing uninspired, mediocre films from him in the future.