VIEW FROM THE TOP
 Competes with Romance
 

VIEW FROM THE TOP asks the question: can a simple girl from the small town of Silver Springs, Nevada, find happiness by achieving her dream and becoming a successful international flight attendant? Not a world-shaking theme in these troubled times, I know, but with Gwyneth Paltrow starring in this little romantic comedy, it emerges as a diverting bit of fluff entertainment.

Reminiscent of the title characters in ROMY AND MICHELLE'S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION, Paltrow's "Donna" appears sweet but clueless. Her ex-showgirl mother spends more time finding new husbands than being concerned about her daughter. After her boy friend dumps her (via a birthday card because "they don't make break-up cards"), Donna feels more miserable than ever. But not for long. Rescue comes in the form of Sally Weston (Candice Bergen of SWEET HOME ALABAMA), a famous flight attendant and author, who seems to be speaking directly to Donna when she says, "Buy my book" (on a television show).

Sally's book changes Donna's life. Although she's never flown before, she takes a job as a stewardess on a low-class airline. Next, she enrolls in a flight attendant training program, hoping to land assignments on important international flights - even to Paris! - and guess who becomes her mentor? None other than the great Sally Weston. (You saw that coming, didn't you?) Still, no matter how hard Donna tries, obstacles keep popping up in her way - like falling in love with Ted (Mark Ruffalo from WINDTALKERS), facing sabotage by an ungrateful friend (Christina Applegate of THE SWEETEST THING), and being stationed in Cleveland.

While not a laugh-out-loud romantic comedy, VIEW FROM THE TOP made me chuckle at some of its amusing scenes, especially the sequence showing Donna's frightened reactions during her first flight assignment. I suffer from an extreme fear of flying, so maybe I identified with her more than other viewers, but I thought Paltrow projected sheer terror quite convincingly. (Back in the days when I traveled by air, passengers on planes with me usually found my behavior very funny also.)

I loved the costumes in this movie. The difference between uniforms worn by stewardesses (stewardi?) on various airlines is so apparent and well done; the expensive wardrobe displayed by Candice Bergen's character stands out as a colorful highlight; and one little yellow suit worn by Paltrow while carrying a polka-dot umbrella in Paris is absolutely stunning.


Too bad not everything here matches Oscar-winner (for SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE) Paltrow's appealing performance or the quality of the film's costumes. Mike Myers (AUSTIN POWERS), as a frustrated flight attendant instructor, becomes difficult to watch because of his repetitive scenes; Mark Ruffalo looks uncomfortable with Paltrow; and the film's ending troubles the feminist in me.


Still, how can one feel too disturbed by a conclusion similar to last year's wonderful MOULIN ROUGE? "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return."

(Released by Miramax and rated "PG-13" for language and sexual references.)

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