View from the Top
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Movie Reviews of View from the Top
Movie Review: Cute, but don't expect it to change your life...
Summary: 3 Stars
Gwyneth Paltrow plays Donna, who was born in a very very small town, who like many others born in a small town, just wants out. She doesn't want to end up like her mom, who has married four times, and all of them seem to be alcoholics. After her high school boyfriend dumps her on a birthday card, she decides that she needs to make some changes. She goes to work for a small airline as a flight attendant, where they believe in "big hair and short skirts."
She fits right in, and meets Christine (Christina Applegate) and Sherry (Kelly Preston). They spend their time in Lake Havasu tanning on Sherry's roof.(not much else to do) When Donna meets Ted, (Mark Ruffalo) they instantly have an attraction. But, since she is moving to Cleveland to bigger and better airlines to be a trainee, they don't take their relationship much further than a first date.
Once there, Donna is at the top of her class, and taking all of the rules and procedures seriously---her classmate Christine, not so much. But, somehow, Christine manages to do better than Donna on the test, so she is the one that gets to work out of New York International, while Donna is stuck in Cleveland. Something doesn't seem right, but it doesn't matter so much when she meets up with Ted again who is going to law school in Cleveland, where his family lives.
Will she make it to New York International? If she does, will she still want what she has wanted all of this time, or is what she wanted right in front of her face?
It was cute, as I stated above. I liked the romance aspect and the "live for your dreams" message, but there was something wrong with it. I know that you can change, but the whole big hair working at Big Lots with her cheesy boyfriend becomes this classy woman who is all of a sudden, very intelligent...I just didn't buy it. I don't like when characters change right in the middle of the movie. It wasn't coherant with the rest of the story. Also, the movie changed as well. It started out to be "woman will go to all lengths to live her dreams" but then it had "spoof" like parts in it, like Mike Myers and his lazy eye. I'm all for comedy, but when you take it to that level, it becomes an entirely different movie. It was nice to see well-known and and likeable actors as the main characters and the concept was original. But, I would have liked it more if it stayed consistent with what it was originally trying to do.
Movie Review: View From The Top- Not That Bad
Summary: 3 Stars
View From The Top surprised me- it really wasn't that bad despite the fact it bombed in movie theaters. This is the kind of a warm-light hearted comedy that is not over the top but, done tastefully well. And to be honest I actually like this movie mind you it won't be the best movie you'll see in your life but, it certainly will not be the worst.
Paltrow in this flick has one wish and one wish only to leave her small hometown. When a mysterious turn of events occurs, she breaks up with her boyfriend who was going to help get her out and see Candice Bergen on T.V. who just happens to be one of the most famous flight attendants of her time and has just written the bestseller "My Life In The Sky." Paltrow quickly buys the book and decides she wants to be a famous international flight attendant taking a job at Sierra airlines which is one of the smallest and worst airlines to work for. She and her gal pals decide to go to a Royalty airline job fair where two of them pick up jobs.Paltrow says goodbye to her small town and her new love interest to enroll at the pretigious Rolayty flight attendant academy where she encounters a thief, a cross eyed instructor,a cheat, and joins the ranks as top of her class. When graduation day comes Paltow was almost certain she'll end up flying on the New York flight. But with a mysterious turn of events she is working in Ohio- where she runs into an old flame that quickly rekindles. But, Gwen despite her new found happiness in her live-in law student boyfriend decides she needs to see more and find out what really happened on her test. She re-takes the test and manages to get a perfect score and ends up working the Paris flight. Only problem the boyfriend she left behind. Is the view from the top really what they make it out to be?
This movie really was a sweet romance and Gwenyth Paltrow does a wonderful job as the heroin of this movie. I especially liked the cat-fight scene between her and buddy Christina Applegate. Once again Candice Bergmen is wonderful.
All in all trust me the view from the top really isn't that bad! Rent this one and be pleasantly surprised!
Movie Review: Check your brain at the door and enjoy
Summary: 3 Stars
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!
Movie Review: uneven though occasionally fun
Summary: 3 Stars
Bruno Barreto's "View From the Top" boasts a cute premise that doesn't quite live up to its potential. The film starts out in a satirical vein, promising to deliver a nifty spoof of life in the friendly skies. Instead, it settles into a typical romantic comedy formula, not bad as these things go, but nothing to write home about either. So while "View from the Top" never soars very high, neither does it end up crashing and burning. In this day and age, one must be grateful for a safe landing, even if the ride is a bumpy one.Gwyneth Paltrow delivers a winning performance as Donna, a small town girl who becomes a stewardess as a way of escaping her dysfunctional family and white trash upbringing. The first part of the film is fun, as Donna earns her wings flying for a cut-rate airline whose attendants dress and act more like prostitutes than stewardesses. With their form-fitting, cleavage-exposing blouses, purple hot pants and big hair, these pleasantly perky hostesses look like they're ready to serve their passengers more than just the customary coffee, tea or milk. So far, so good - but once the girls move onto a more "legitimate" airline, much of the satiric bite drains out of the film and we move onto the more familiar terrain of catty rivalries, long distance romance, and unrequited love.
In addition to Paltrow, the movie features Christina Applegate, Rob Lowe, Candice Bergen and Mark Ruffalo in various roles. Mike Myers is surprisingly annoying in the part of a cross-eyed stewardess trainer. The screenplay by Eric Wald has a maddening tendency to drop characters along the way, giving the film a slapdash, unformed and oddly amateurish quality. As partial compensation, the film boasts superb production and costume design and a generally ebullient spirit.
"View From the Top" doesn't end up flying us anywhere special and it's definitely coach all the way, but it does serve up a few laughs in mid flight.
Movie Review: Kind of sweet, and somewhat amusing...
Summary: 3 Stars
I liked this movie. But was disappointed by some aspects of it. Was it meant to be an amusing nudge at airline attendants and how the average person perceives them? Or a romantic comedy that pits a woman's career and life ambitions against her heart? It tried to be both. Mike Myers' character, to me, brought the film down to spoof level. While Candice Bergen's character added heart and hope and a little bit of quirkiness. They really should've made up their minds before setting out to film this one. Despite some ridiculous events (like Christina Applegate's character fighting with Gwyneth Paltrow's character, right there in the first class cabin, when she had no business being there and especially these days, she couldn't have made back there considering the circumstances....totally ridiculous) there were some good aspects to this movie. The cameos for instance. Rob Lowe, Kelly Preston, short but notable. The romantic part of the story was sweet. And there's a nice little twist at the end. Not a believable one mind you, but still, it made for a good ending. And I like happy endings. So all in all, this was pretty good (decent story, amusing events, nice ending). I'd see it again.