★★ View From The Top

[Gino: 2.0]

First, why would I watch this? This was a on-the-train type thing and a departure from 'the classics' and one I was sure Twoshoes didn't want to see, etc. I thought it would be harmless fun, and I remember Ebert and Roepert giving it "two thumbs up" (TM). It turned out to be harmless, but not interesting either. The basic plot is a trailer-park girl gets out of town by becoming an airline flight attendent, realizes her dream, but does she lose out on love along the way because of her troubled childhood? It occured to me that that plot in itself could potentially make a great movie if it had been a totally different genre, like a gritty art-house picture where the girl was from a Brazilian slum or something. Or even as a Farrelly brothers-type comedy. After all, the "see the world as an airline stewardess" is, I think a great metaphor for people's dreams, and also has a lot of potential to show the downfall of such dreams. Or even a comment on the decline of civilization. I.e. nearly every flight attendand I have seen has been a haggard and sad-looking person. In any case, this film is the opposite of the potential pictures I described, and while dabbling in a couple "themes" it only dips it's toes in them. Nor did it go for a big comedy element, which would have improved things. The music is gratingly sugary pop, and any irony is hard to discern. Two stars because it wasn't horrible and I can't think of anything specifically bad about it, and my mind didn't wander.