Sadly a rather mushy love story, not the satire I was expecting. Oh, well...

Rating: 6/10 (28 March 2011)

Perhaps I missed something, perhaps Jason Reitman's Up In The Air is more subtle than it seems, but by the time the credits rolled, I felt rather cheated. The style and content of the film's first 60 minutes seemed to promise a spiky satire. Exactly what was to be satirised was not at all clear, but that, too, promised to be revealed in due course. It wasn't. Instead Reitman's opus turned into a rather soft-centred love story, one admittedly with a bitter-sweet ending, but a marshmallow type of love story all the same. OK, so George Clooney's gift of the gab with which professionally he had sugared the pill of being 'let go' for thousands of loyal employees was employed to calm down his sister's intended when the poor chap got last-minute nerves more or less at the altar. Perhaps there was some significance in that. But if so, it is rather slight significance. In the event gorgeous George, who until then had eschewed domesticity with a vengeance and instead dedicated himself to gaining air miles while criss-crossing the US sacking people meets a fellow traveller, beds her and is smitten. She, a good turn by Vera Farmiga, it seems is something of a minx: despite giving George every impression of reciprocating his growing love, in fact is married with children and only regarded him as a bit on the side. Was that the centre of the film? Tables are turned on man? Well, if so, that also wouldn't make sense because despite his aversion to settling down and despite the cruel nature of his job, George's character is rather a nice chap and, in the film, at least does nothing which deserves cruel retribution. Then there's the gal he falls for: if anything she is the nasty one, and a good case could be made that she lead George on. But whatever, the whole story – for that is the story, and forget about any putative satire of corporate America – is simply far too slight for a film of this kind. Clooney, I have to say as always, give excellent value for money as do his two female leads, Farmiga and Anna Kendrick. But despite that I felt cheated. If I want to see a love story, I'll seek one out and see it. And I'll make sure it has more substance than this. I would, however, have preferred a spike satire. But there was, as it became apparent, no chance of that here. Shame really, there was a lot of material to go on.