Tomorrow, “Up In The Air” comes out in limited release. The film, which details corporate termination artist George Clooney flying coast to coast firing airline employees, features an odd quirk that’s gotten people talking, especially considering the current economic climate. During breaks in the action, we hear from real non-actors who describe the experience of being fired. It’s never entirely clear if they’re reacting to an onscreen firing, or just describing the experience itself (if its the latter, some of these guys do appear to be acting, and not always convincingly).
Jason Reitman did a Q&A for the film recently, and admitted, much to everyone’s surprise, that he got the participants to agree to be taped discussing their experiences by telling them he was making a documentary about the economy. To bare your heart and soul about your stress about being able to pay your bills or provide for your family could be a great relief, especially if the word was getting out to others. To find out after the fact that your real life experiences are complimenting the story of a wealthy man who goes from airline to airline firing people must be a little tougher to stomach.
The confessions in the movie are actually fairly overused, and we struggled to see the point of the whole thing. These people are fretting over extremely tangible things like putting food on the table, and here is handsome millionaire George Clooney strutting through a story about a (theoretically) rich guy struggling to connect emotionally with those around him. We think that’s the sort of creative decision that backfires on a movie’s intentions, but, like the National Board of Review, maybe you can judge for yourself.
