Welcome to Rearview Mirror, a monthly column in which I re-view and then re-review a movie I have already seen under the new (and improved?) critical lens of 2023. I’m so happy you’re here.
When I was a kid, I tended to over-identify with the protagonist of any movie I watched. I wanted my grown-up life to be full of excitement and adventure like theirs were, and I always left the theater fantasizing about what it would be like to have whatever job they had. Center Stage made me want to be a ballerina, Legally Blonde made me want to be a lawyer, Miss Congeniality made me want to be an FBI agent or a pageant queen. I wanted to be a Spice Girl and a Charlie’s Angel and a Josie and/or a Pussycat. In retrospect, I was probably too young to watch Pretty Woman when I did, given how easily influenced I was. Not that there’s anything wrong with being a sex worker, but I don’t think it’s as fun and glamorous as Julia Roberts made it look. The one that’s actually stuck all these years is Practical Magic; I still very much want to be a witch. (Eventually I would reconcile this desire to live every possible life by deciding to be an actress.)
I didn’t have the vocabulary to describe what made a compelling protagonist, it was just a feeling. And I remember, leaving the theater after seeing 2003’s View From the Top, that weirdly, I did not have that feeling. The movie didn’t make me want to be a flight attendant. The worst review my preteen self could give.
To be clear, View From the Top is in no way a good movie, but watching it now, I see a frustrating amount of easily fixable elements that would have made it, at least, more entertaining. The first issue is Gwyneth Paltrow. She stars as Donna, a small-town girl eager to see the world, who climbs the ranks of flight attendance (from budget airline to international, first class) after becoming inspired by Candace Bergen’s character’s self-help book. Also, she’s dating Ted (Mark Ruffalo) and he lives in Cleveland and that’s a problem. Her trashy best friend Christine (Christina Applegate) briefly derails her career, but it all works out in the end.
It’s not that she can’t do comedy, but she can’t do poor. Gwyneth Paltrow has a face that knows what caviar tastes like.
Paltrow is all wrong for the role. In the early 2000s, she wanted to be taken seriously as an actor while also starring in blockbusters. She did Shallow Hal the same year as The Royal Tenenbaums and, I guess, based on those…comedic…chops?...she got View From the Top the same year she did Sylvia (Plath). It’s not that she can’t do comedy—Emma is perfectly fine—but she can’t do poor. Just like how Camila Morrone has a face that knows what an iPhone is, Gwyneth Paltrow has a face that knows what caviar tastes like. Yes, there are pretty people across all socioeconomic strata, but her Rich Girl Face is absolutely terminal. I don’t for a second believe that she’s never been on an airplane, sorry.
If you told me the part was written for Cameron Diaz, I’d believe you. Post–Something About Mary, hot blondes who were willing to be goofy rather than play the stuck-up foil to a manchild were romcom gold. And Diaz, for all her beauty, does strike me as a believable trailer park resident. But for my money, the only actress in Hollywood who could have truly pulled this off was Brittany Murphy. I’ve written about it before, and I’ll probably write about it again: Murphy was one of the very few movie stars who could genuinely pass for plucky and working-class. There’s a reason she’s so great in 8 Mile.
Another issue is tone. Paltrow and Ruffalo are playing it like a sincere rom-com, Joshua Malina (as a gay co-worker, go figure) and Bergen are in a satire, and Mike Myers (as the flight attendants’ instructor) and Applegate are in a comedy. For my money, just go full goofy. Give me a makeover montage and a trying-on-weird-clothes-at-the-mall sequence. Call in cameos for weird passengers, write Bergen a catchphrase. The soundtrack is full of crowd-pleasers like “Living on a Prayer,” “Don’t Stop Believing,” and “Time After Time.” Just go to karaoke already! Romy and Michele understood the power of jumping into the deep end. Why hold back?
For my money, just go full goofy. Give me a makeover montage and a trying-on-weird-clothes-at-the-mall sequence. Call in cameos for weird passengers, write Bergen a catchphrase.
And while working on the tone, I would consider, were I remaking this flick today, writing actual jokes into the script. Telling actors—even really good, funny ones—to play it over-the-top is not the same as writing actual jokes. Planes are weird, there’s plenty of comedy to be mined here. It’s not, like, a terrible idea. But in failing to put funny first, from casting to performance to editing and beyond, the movie is grounded before it ever gets a chance to take off.
Or you could just watch The Flight Attendant. Kaley Cuoco’s pitch perfect, and while I’m still not sold on a life of safety demonstrations and rolling suitcases, being an asset for the CIA does look pretty fun. FL
