“Rentable” takes on a whole new meaning with Gwyneth Paltrow’s latest, “View from the Top.” A lax attempt at romantic comedy, the flick demonstrates neither emotion nor wit, with the exception of Mike Myers’ small role.
A small-town girl, big dreams and a boy who gets in the way — how can the movie be interesting? Not possible. Not even going to the theater with low expectations can save the 87 minutes of life one will regrettably lose after seeing this movie.
The movie highlights the miserable small-town Donna Jensen’s (Paltrow, “Shallow Hal”) hometown blues, singing to get out of the trailer park in Silver Springs, Nev. She breaks up with her high school football-star boyfriend and quits her job at Big Lots only to find herself crying in front of a trash can, contemplating the prospect of becoming an alcoholic.
Then she miraculously looks up at the TV monitor and sees Sally Westin (Candice Bergen, “Sweet Home Alabama”), the world’s most famous flight attendant, spouting off about her new self-help book. Immediately, Donna lights up and sets out to become “first-class international.”
Before she realizes her dreams, Donna must go through the hellish experience of working a commuter flight from Nevada to Fresno at the meager Sierra Airline. Although it seems dead-end and under-whelming, Donna meets two friends, Christine (Christina Applegate, “The Sweetest Thing”) and Sherry (Kelly Preston, “What a Girl Wants”), as well as love interest Ted (Mark Ruffalo, “XX/XY”).
Tired of their tight polyester suits, big hair and weekend trips to Lake Havisu, the three girls yearn for the big leagues: Royalty Airlines. They leave Nevada and head for Texas. Leaving behind Sherry because of her lackluster interview with the Airlines and Ted because of his lack of ambition and need to bum around on the lake all day, Donna leaves with Christine for basic training.
Although not one of his funniest characters, Myers (“Austin Powers in Goldmember”) relieves the audience of its pent-up emotion with his cock-eyed and quite insane rendition of a flight-attendant-school instructor. He plays John Whitney, a crude and rude weirdo who never made it into the sky himself because of his failure to pass the eye exam. Although he plays no major role (as one may have thought from the way the movie was marketed), he still livens up the screen for a brief moment here and there.
Paltrow’s talents come alive in the scenes with Myers and frustratingly drag in scenes with Ruffalo in turn, killing the romance of the film. After graduation, Donna’s dreams of being a flight attendant on an international route to Paris seem more distant than ever. Despite her top-of-the-class status, she is placed on a commuter route in Royalty’s hub: Cleveland.
Here, she miraculously rekindles ties with Ted, who is in law school at Ohio State. They fall in love and move in together. Drab and dry, the relationship that attempts to carry the movie’s entire idea lacks any audience involvement or possibility for empathy for that matter. It simply leaves viewers asking, “Why is Gwyneth going for him?”
As Donna realizes her final destination should not have been Cleveland, she leaves Ted and finds herself lonely and heartbroken on the transcontinental route she dreamed about. After a coincidental meeting with Sally Westin (simply an overly-nice version of Murphy Brown), Donna decides to listen to her heart. Can’t guess where it leads? Then see the movie.
Despite the anticipated predictability of the movie, it ends with a twist — a healthy but questionable surprise that can wait until the comfort of one’s home to be revealed.
Grade: C
