Paltrow's flight-attendant comedy is not an airworthy vehicle
According to Miramax topper Harvey Weinstein, his studio paid Gwyneth Paltrow $10 million to star in the flight-attendant romantic comedy View From the Top. And it appears that Miramax spent all of $10 for everything else. There are shots of a sunny suburban landscape, ringed by mountains, that is supposed to be Cincinnati. There's a jaw-droppingly cheesy soundtrack, with renditions of sappy hits (Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time," Stevie Wonder's "For Once in My Life") by cut-rate chanteuses. And there's a preponderance of close-ups that suggests one of two things: Either the crew couldn't get the sets together in time, or the cinematographer is a pore-and-pimple fetishist.
According to Miramax topper Harvey Weinstein, his studio paid Gwyneth Paltrow $10 million to star in the flight-attendant romantic comedy View From the Top. And it appears that Miramax spent all of $10 for everything else. There are shots of a sunny suburban landscape, ringed by mountains, that is supposed to be Cincinnati. There's a jaw-droppingly cheesy soundtrack, with renditions of sappy hits (Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time," Stevie Wonder's "For Once in My Life") by cut-rate chanteuses. And there's a preponderance of close-ups that suggests one of two things: Either the crew couldn't get the sets together in time, or the cinematographer is a pore-and-pimple fetishist.
As rattly as the old puddle-jumpers that Paltrow's character takes to as she embarks on her mile-high career, View From the Top is a piddling exercise in which our heroine must decide between her literally lofty ambitions and her hunky sweetheart (Mark Ruffalo). Donna Jensen (Paltrow) is Nevada trailer trash (bad hair, bad accent) who, thanks to a motivational tome by a flight attendant-turned-mogul (Candice Bergen), is inspired to don a uniform and leave her small-time, small-town life behind.
Although she begins work for a dinky commuter carrier that outfits its female workers in trashy, '60s-style couture, by the end of the movie she's realized her dream of being a chicly tailored international stewardess with plush perks and Paris layovers. Along the way, there are conflicts - and a catfight - with a scheming coworker (a sparkless Christina Applegate) and training courses from a cross-eyed instructor (Mike Myers, responsible for the picture's one, or possibly two, laughs).
Box-office predictions are usually beside the point in a review, but I'd wager that View From the Top's grosses won't even equal Paltrow's paycheck. Up, up and away, indeed.
Contact movie critic Steven Rea at 215-854-5829 or srea@phillynews.com.
View From the Top * 1/2 (Out of four stars)
Produced by Brad Grey, Matthew Baer and Bobby Cohen, directed by Bruno Barreto, written by Eric Wald, photography by Affonso Beato, music by Theodore Shapiro, distributed by Miramax Films.
Running time: 1 hour, 27 mins.
Donna Jensen. . . Gwyneth Paltrow
Christine. . . Christina Applegate
Ted. . . Mark Ruffalo
Sally Weston. . . Candice Bergen
John Whitney. . . Mike Myers
Parent's guide: PG-13 (language)
Playing at: area theaters