View from the Top | AccessAtlanta

View from the Top

Gwyneth Paltrow has jumbo jet dreams.

FILM FACTS

Starring: Gwyneth Paltrow, Christina Applegate, Marc Blucas, Mark Ruffalo, Kelly Preston, Rob Lowe and Candice Bergen
Director: Bruno Barreto
Rating: PG-13 for language and sexual references
Genre: Comedy

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On DVD September 9 (PG-13) 95 minutes

The verdict: Paltrow cannot begin to save this unfunny flight attendant comedy that should have gone direct to video.

Grade: D

By HAP ERSTEIN
Cox News Service

Fortunately for Gwyneth Paltrow, the motion picture academy is not in the habit of repossessing Oscars just because an actress gives a dull performance in an insipid movie.

The proof? Miramax's golden girl still has her "Shakespeare in Love " statuette after getting stuck in such sub-par fare as "Duets," "Shallow Hal " and "Bounce."

The latest stumble in a most promising career is "View From the Top," a bottom-rung comedy that has been looking for an unobtrusive release date for almost a year. If studio honcho Harvey Weinstein wasn't quite willing to write off his investment and dump this turkey onto video shelves, at least he picked a weekend when the nation was preoccupied with more pressing matters.

Still, those in search of an escape from war news are in for a listless humor-free hour-and-a-half watching this tale of Donna, a Nevada lass who reaches for the sky to escape her trailer-trash life, dreaming of a glamorous career as a flight attendant. "Paris, first class international" is her mantra, but the movie of her ascent is strictly coach.

Paltrow is not the only name of consequence who needs to read scripts more carefully.

Christina Applegate is typecast as Donna's chief rival, an unscrupulous stew who steals guest soaps, liquor miniatures and Donna's service training test paper. In a particularly clumsy and embarrassing scene, the two of them get into an on-board cat fight with airline amenities flying.

Donna's first work partner is Kelly Preston, who apparently found an out clause in her contract, because she disappears from the picture early and suddenly.

The same goes for Rob Lowe, who has two brief scenes as a smiley pilot. Surely "View From the Top" cannot be what convinced him to trade in his post on "The West Wing " for a film career.

By sheer coincidence, the movie also features Joshua Malina, who replaced Lowe on the Emmy-winning television show, here playing an overly made-up gay attendant. The part is an annoying stereotype, but no more so than the female roles.

Did Mike Myers owe Miramax a favor, paid in full by agreeing to appear as a solicitous training guru with an artificial eye? The eye shtick gets old real fast, but screenwriter Eric Wald or whoever does get off one good gag with a silent pan of photos of Myers posed with other one-eyed celebrities -- Sammy Davis Jr., Marty Feldman and Peter Falk. A terrorism joke he made was snipped out of the movie earlier this month.

Candice Bergen comes off well enough as "the world's most famous flight attendant," author of "My Life in the Sky," who takes a shine to Donna, encouraging her in her career goal. Completely wasted is Mark Ruffalo (exceptionally good in "You Can Count on Me" ), playing a soft-spoken sensitive law student who falls in love with Donna. They meet cute when her bikini top pops -- in strictly PG-13 style, mind you -- and he repairs it with a bread bag tie. Yes, chivalry is alive and well in movieland.

Chances are Paltrow has not destroyed her film career with "View from the Top," but she sure hasn't helped it any. A star is someone who can rise above weak material and still compel us to watch. Paltrow sinks as low as the movie, finding nowhere to sparkle, settling for the character clich�s of big hair and a bigger smile. She clearly needs the strong hand of a director and Bruno Barreto ("Bossa Nova") does not have one.

On the ground, you can simply avoid theaters showing "View From the Top. "Here's hoping you are never stuck on a flight showing this clunker.