Posted: 03/26/2003

View from the Top

(2003)

by Laura Abraham

Gwyneth Paltrow tries her hand at another comedy, this time directed by Bruno Barreto and co-starring Christina Applegate, who just might be the best thing in the whole film.

View from the Top had a great TV ad, showing promise as a film able to mix an actual story with the slapstick genius of Mike Myers. I had hopes of Airplane II being delivered to me when I walked into the theater. The ads were so full of potential with hints of what could have been a really funny movie. The only other time I have been this wrong is when I firmly believed Geoffrey Feiger (Kevorkian’s lawyer) would win the gubernatorial race in Michigan. Now that was some knee slapping hilarity!

The movie stars Gwyneth Paltrow as Donna, a small town, trailer trash girl hoping to escape her pathetically average life by becoming a stewardess. Her first job is with a small airline where she befriends two other flight attendants played by Kelly Preston and Christina Applegate (Christine). All three seem content with their jobs pushing bologna sandwiches through the shag carpeted planes until they catch a glimpse of the well dressed, snooty stewardesses from another airline and they realize their life with this shitty little airline isn’t all they thought it was. All three apply to Royalty airline, an upscale version of their current jobs, however only Donna and Christine get job offers. So, Preston disappears for um, like, the rest of the movie!! I have no idea why her character was even in this film. It made no sense and was a bit disconcerting to have her appear at all, since I spent the rest of the film wondering when she would come back and in what way.

The majority of the film shows Donna clamoring to reach the height of success in the flight attendant world—Paris, First Class International. She works hard and studies hard during the training period. Also during this period we are introduced to the ONLY funny character, the lazy eyed teacher played by Mike Myers. He is just such a natural talent with a wonderful sense of comedy all the director had to do was place the camera on him and the audience was laughing. They could have added more scenes with his character and actually saved this train wreck. As it was, his scenes seemed scaled down to the bare minimum, which was really a disappointment.

After Christine cheats on her test she is placed on the best routes while Donna is relegated to domestic flights from Cleveland. Donna struggles to keep her chin up, never losing sight of her dream, and in the process wins a boyfriend. When Christine’s cheating comes to light, Donna wins her dream of Paris, First Class International, and has to choose between love and career.

Along the way someone lost sight of what this film is or was supposed to be. Is it a romantic comedy or an Airplane II or a new comedy blend or just plain shite? I mean, I doubt the last one was the original intent but when a director and writer don’t keep their eyes on the prize often times this is what is left. And a big, wet pile of shite at that. And another thing! It seems like the person allowed to edit this had NO IDEA what they were doing. I mean the jumps between scenes make no sense, the kind of stuff that was left in didn’t always make sense and characters were neutered and rendered useless.

Don’t misunderstand me; this was no Master of Disguise. Now THAT was a movie that should have had people losing their jobs. This was just sad. It made me sad. View from the Top had potential, such great comedic potential.

If the movie powers that be had thought to do a few things differently this movie would have been hilarious. So just in case anyone reads this, here are the things we have learned NOT to do when making a film. I was kind enough to number them in order of importance for you.

First, don’t cast Gwyneth Paltrow. I understand why people cast her in films, she looks like a movie star, but face it she cannot do comedy.

Repeat after me, She CANNOT do comedy. She was unable to deliver a believable performance during the fight scene with Christina Applegate; Paltrow just looked stiff and uncomfortable the entire time. This kind of stiff, rigid performance was PERFECT for her role in The Royal Tenenbaums but was horribly embarrassing in this.

Second, Let Mike Myers have a go at the script. When there is a comedy and he is in it, let him work his magic on the jokes.

Third, understand what it is the movie is trying to be. A romantic comedy could have worked, a straight up slapstick comedy could have worked, but a jumbled mess only upset me. And I do not like to be upset. It makes me sweat.

Laura Abraham is a freelance loafer trying to write when she isn’t napping, traveling or getting her hairs did. She worries about getting candy at Easter. She has an irrational fear of hollow bunnies and dislike of Easter candy and so April is hard for her.

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