A View From the Top Review
by Harvey S. Karten (harveycritic AT cs DOT com)March 20th, 2003
VIEW FROM THE TOP
# stars based on 4 stars: 2
Reviewed by: Harvey Karten
Miramax Films
Directed by: Bruno Barreto
Written by: Eric Wald
Cast: Gwyneth Paltrow, Christina Applegate, Mark Ruffalo, Kelly Preston, Mike Myers, Candice Bergen, Rob Lowe
Screened at: Loews Ewalk, NYC, 3/19/03
Here is yet another answer to the perennial question, How ya gonna keep 'em/ Down on the farm,/ After they've seen Paree? There are only two potential answers to this, should one choose to reply to a rhetorical question: 1) You can't: once the rubes get a taste of the big, beautiful city, it's goodbye countryside, hello urbanity; 2) You can if your small town offers more to the individual than excellent fromage, pate, vin and moonlit nights on the Champs.
In Brazilian-born director Bruno Barreto's vision, Donna Jensen (Gwyneth Paltrow) has every reason to escape from the sticks. She's brought up under the umbrella of a dysfunctional family (or at least we have to trust her saying so in the excessive narration) and is fed up with working in a local discount store. Having caught a TV interview with Sally Weston (Candice Bergen), who has gained celebrity status on the interview circuit from her book urging her readers to take seriously the improbable slogan, "You can be anything you want to be," her heart take wings. She's going to be a flight attendant and why not, since her small-town boy friend has just ditched her and soar over the Eiffel Tower regularly serving caviar and champagne to first-class passengers. Though she's at the top of her class, mentored by John Whitney (Mike Myers), her disappointing final test results cause her to be stationed on a local run to Cleveland where she meets an falls for the handsome and charming pre-law student, Ted (Mark Ruffalo).
Considering that "View from the Top" is released by the prestigious Miramax Films, known for crackerjack fare most recently including "Chicago" and "Gangs of New York" and that Gwyneth Paltrow excels in challenging roles in films like "Shakespeare in Love" and a Pulitzer-winning play in London, "Proof" we can only guess why this almost terminally bland sitcom can pass muster with even an MTV audience. The story is predictable from the get-go, Mike Myers' crossed right eye is the sum of the gifted comic's repertory, and the talented Mark Ruffalo looks embarrassed to be in such peas-and-carrots action. For some reason, every indication is given on both the ad posters and in the initial section of the movie that we're in the 1960s (hair styles and costumes) but a look at a 5-Euro note on the seat of a passenger in first class to Paris, the cellphones, and the use of the term "guys" when referring to women and "Oh-my-God" to represent clever conversation, are altogether contemporary.
Rated PG-13. 85 minutes. Copyright 2003 by Harvey Karten at [email protected]
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