View from the Top

Rating:
Summary: If you see this movie, bring your barf bag
Review: "View From the Top" is easily one of the finest examples of money-driven filmmaking yet. Despite the good leads, (Gwyneth Paltrow and Mark Ruffalo) sitting through this movie is less appealing than snorting carbon monoxide. The script was probably written by primates and edited by a chicken, and directed by a lobster who has been trained to push "yes" or "no". While this is a bravura piece of filmmaking for a lobster, it is still more mind-numbing then the religious channel. Not even the considerable talents of Mike Meyers can bring this film from the jaws of hell. Avoid this movie at all costs.

Rating:
Summary: Come fly with me!
Review: Though we traveled first class all the way in this comedy, it's not always the best view or way to go. Life is not sectionized as on an airplane. One's first flight is scary, I admit (I remember mine), but the aspiring attendant kept no restraint on her fears. Granted, with a comatose pilot and such an inexperienced co-pilot, she had cause to "lose it" and feel insecure.

There she was bouncing around in the sky due to turbulence, then on the water in a motor boat. Destiny tends to have curves along the way; life is a series of arrivals and departures.

For a smalltown girl destined to remain a 'nobody', she learns to spread her wings and fly gracefully. Her first job interview was a disaster, but pretty young women always get a second chance. This gal had a lot of willpower and was able to become friends with a writer and motivational speaker who taught her the in's and out's of the airline heirarchy. Sally Weston was the Mary Kay of the airlines and had convinced her she was a girl who could make things happen, to look for the things which makes her "most happy" and to set high goals. She did admit that things are different now from the time when she first began.

Throughout the grueling training, she is told that you can have everything you want if you stay focused, follow your head and not your heart However, she trusts the wrong people and realizes that not everyone is ethical. She gets a little sidetracked in Cleveland for awhile and her heart gets in the way.

She's advised to have fun living out your destiny at the expense of others, and goes on to live the high live. It took a bit of class to go from Paris to New York. Soon, she realizes she'd messed up really bad and being alone in glamorous settings was not so good. She comes to understand that every pilot needs a co-pilot.

The ending is a real tear-jerker for a romanticist -- mushy, perhaps for those not so sensitive. All's well that ends well. Mark Ruffalo is a rising star who will soon become a leading man.

The music consultant made good choices to serve as background for the action. It pleases me for so many of today's movies to use this type of 'good' music for a younger audience. Hopefully, they will learn to like it.

Rating:
Summary: Check your brain at the door and enjoy
Review: Lighter than air? Yes. Unrealistic and sugar-coated? That too. Can't decide which decade it's supposed to be set in? True enough. A bit offensive to anyone with an ounce of feminist sensibility? I'm afraid so.

Here's the thing: I went to the theater expecting an hour and a half of so-bad-it's-good fluffball comedy, and really enjoyed "View From the Top" in spite of myself. The whole movie all but begs not to be taken seriously, which is probably the reason why it works as well as it does. Appropriately for a movie about the airline industry, this is pure escapism, in the well-worn motif of a trailer-park kid who decides she wants more out of life and, after a few mildly hard knocks, gets it. Donna, a store clerk somewhere in rural Nevada, decides on a career as a flight attendant on a lark after her boyfriend dumps her, and promptly sets her sights on the New York-to-Paris route despite a hilariously bumpy start in the business. Of course, this is America, and all Donna has to do is work hard, be patient and persistent, and look like Gwyneth Paltrow. (Casting Paltrow as trailer trash is about as convincing as you'd expect it to be, but her acting is great as usual.)

While the movie never really tries to be very serious, it will probably elicit a knowing nod or two from anyone who has suffered an unfair setback at work or felt like it was taking too long to climb the professional ladder. (In other words, it's the perfect comedy for today's job market!) The corollary plot about Donna's on again, off again relationship with her law-student boyfriend is a bit too treacly and old-fashioned to be really enjoyable, but the story's final twist resolves this in a cute, if utterly unconvincing, way.

In any case, the main focus is on the slapstick comedy portions of the story, while plot advancement is mostly an afterthought. (I couldn't decide whether or not this was intentional, but it really doesn't matter.) With so much bad news in the real world today, the fact that it's all so unconvincing is really part of the fun anyway. Recommended if you need a laugh!

Rating:
Summary: Castle in the clouds....
Review: Gwenyth Paltrow, prancing around in microminis that show off her willowy body, is a white-trash girl with dreams of leaving behind her drab life by aspiring to become an international flight attendant in this sometimes lame, sometimes funny spoof. No, the year isn't 1965, but it pretty much feels that way. Not as funny as it should be or as cute as it wants to be, this movie came 20 years too late. Some of the obvious jokes fall flat and the ending is lame and predictable, but the cast makes up for the major flaws. The film is a light piece of forgettable fluff that's fun when you watch it, no matter how guilty you feel afterward. I just expected a lot more.

Rating:
Summary: For Gweneth fans only
Review: Fans of Gweneth Paltrow will enjoy this film but I found it very disappointing. Her performance was great, but the cliche-ridden script was so dull and uninspired and the story was so predictable that I never actually laughed at any point in the film. Too bad, as the cast is incredible--Mike Myers, for example, who is terrifically funny but just so-so in this film; Candice Bergen, who did her best with very poor material. What this movie really suffers from is some very poor writing! It's one of those "this could have been a great movie, if only..." experiences. Skip this one, and rent the video/DVD.

Rating:
Summary: Flat out FUN!
Review: This movie was absolutely hilarious, I laughed so hard. Paltrow had an excellent performance, with an excellent comedic boost from Applegate and Kelly Preston. BUT, once again, Mike Meyers stole the show, he had me and my bestfriend in tears, we were laughing so hard. There's nothing wrong with this movie, it was just flat out fun!

Rating:
Summary: A modest entertainment at best
Review: The trailer for the film implies two things:
a) the movie takes place in the sixties, when "stewardesses" were considered glamorous.

b) It's a wacky comedy.

NOT TRUE. It takes place, sadly, in our time. It would have been more fun had the cheesy uniforms and the "jet-setting stew" been more a focus.

Also, while there are occasional moments of comedic hijinks, the movie is actually a fairly low-key romantic comedy. If you're in the mood for a laid back, pleasant but hardly hot romance, then go ahead and enjoy.

Gwyneth Paltrow and the terrific Mark Ruffalo (YOU CAN COUNT ON ME) are the on-again, off-again couple. Mostly, we follow Paltrow, as she strives to fulfill her dreams of becoming a flight attendant with the New York - Paris route. Not exactly the stuff of high drama. Kelly Preston plays an acquaintance who joins her on her "quest" and Christina Applegate is another friend, whose dealings are just a bit suspect.

Mike Myers, featured heavily in the trailers, is in a supporting role as a trainer. His character really belongs in a different movie, but that's not really Myers' fault. He is amusing, and generates virtually the only out-loud laughs in the movie.

So, just be warned before you go. This movie is not for little kids...there isn't too much that's terribly objectionable, but they will be BORED, BORED, BORED. Probably not for teen boys either. But, if you want a "nice" romantic comedy without the over-the-top plot twists of stuff like HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS or MAID IN MANHATTAN, there are certainly worse movies than VIEW FROM THE TOP.

Rating:
Summary: A bit silly, but cute ;)
Review: The pace was upbeat; the color was vibrant; and the characters, although sugar-coated, were each blessed by the director with their own personality. The theme of the film was a heavy one thru, "Aim high, and never give up your dream!". Fortunately, such a 'serious' message wasn't in conflict with the 'feel good' nature of this movie at all. Because whenever things took a down turn, and just when our protagonist, the beautiful Miss G, was about do lose her dream, the director's invincible hand would always come to the rescue and to straighten things up again.

Rating:
Summary: "View From the Top"
Review: This was such a great movie. Don't listen to the critics. Its harmless, fun, free, funny, and overall great! I saw it with my girlfriend and we both loved it. Mike Myers is as funny as when he is in Austin Powers! See this movie its light and fun. Candice Bergen was so funny and it was a great escape! See it. Im going to buy the DVD!

Rating:
Summary: Simple and Fun
Review: Donna always dreamed of getting out of her small hometown. That finally happens when she and her friends decide to apply for an extensive training program to become better flight attendants.
Donna falls for a guy, and that begins to complicate things. It is a fun movie. No big revelations in this movie, but it is fun all the same. And the music does help a lot.
Rated PG-13 for mild language and a scene of violence.