I am always skeptical of seeing a film that has for some reason or another been put on hold after filming is complete. I understand why war/terror related films such as Collateral Damage were put on hold in the wake of September 11^th, but I fear the reason for holding up Gwyneth Paltrow’s latest film is less admirable. Nonetheless, the film did turn out just fine, especially if you are a Paltrow (Possession) fan despite her reputation for being a bitch.

The story begins in tiny Silver Springs, Nevada where a young Donna (Chelsey Cole) yearns to be away from her dysfunctional family and their trailer park ways. After high school Donna’s (Paltrow) boyfriend (Marc Blucas) gets her a job at the local Big Lots! closeout store in the luggage department, where she dreams of one day being able to fly all over the world while toting along her little carry-on bag. Soon he has a promotion and will be moving to Tucson, and Donna thinks he will take her with him, but is sadly mistaken as he dumps her before the move. What is at first a bad experience soon turns out to be the kick in the pants that Donna needed as she watches an interview of famous stewardess Sally Westin (Candice Bergen, Sweet Home Alabama) on the Oxygen! Channel (I don’t know what bar would ever have that channel on) and becomes inspired to buy Westin’s book and become a flight attendant. So off to tiny Sierra Airlines based out of Laughlin, Nevada where she gets her first flight attendant gig and meets fellow stewardess Sherry (Kelly Preston, For Love of the Game), who has been at it awhile and even once worked for mighty Pam-Am, before they went bankrupt. After a short while a new attendant joins the gang in the form of the beautiful, but stupid Christine (Christina Applegate, The Sweetest Thing). In no time at all the three are good friends and decide that they too could be first-class flight attendants for a major airline, so they all go to a job fair for Royalty Airlines. At this job fair they meet Mr. John Whitney (Mike Myers, Austin Powers in Goldmember), a famous flight attendant trainer and a man with a lazy eye. Donna and Christine make the cut and head to Dallas, Texas for training, while Sherry has to go back to Laughlin. At this point Donna still wants to be a flight attendant on the first-class international flights just like her mentor Sally Westin was, but she did meet this great guy in Laughlin named Ted (Mark Ruffalo, Windtalkers) and now she starts to think what if? Anyway, Donna and Christine go through training where Donna is the star, but after the big test she gets stuck working Royalty’s commuter service out of Cleveland while Christine is headed for first-class international. Of course the audience immediately knows what happened, but it takes a while for Donna to figure it out. Meanwhile back in Cleveland, Donna runs into Ted, where he is originally from and where he returned to finish law school. So did everything work out in the end, or does she still want the pie in the sky? Hmmmmmm.

Directing View from the Top is mister Bruno Barreto, who last directed Bossa Nova way back in 2000. The screenplay is by Eric Wald. Some others in the movie are Rob Lowe as co-pilot Steve, Stacey Dash, Jon Polito, Joshua Malina, Stephen Tobolowsky, and Jessica Capshaw.

For some odd reason I kept thinking about the film Sliding Doors, one of the first films I saw Paltrow in. I enjoyed that picture, and I think the reason that I was reminded by it was that it showed two divergent life paths for Paltrow’s character, which View from the Top is a bit reminiscent of that two life paths. Paltrow is likeable and loveable in her role, and Applegate is great as the slutty, stupid friend/antagonist (of course she got a lot of experience for the role with over a decade on Married... with Children in a similar role). Even Myers is good in his limited role. Overall an enjoyable and pleasant film, but nothing outstanding or extraordinary. Its partly romantic comedy, part life story that for some odd reason I enjoyed. So I give View from the Top seven couches out of ten.

Last updated: Thursday, March 20, 2008 02:46:20 AM

Click Here to get back into frames.