View from the Top
Went to this movie in a similar spirit to “The Core”: I just wanted something light and entertaining to distract me. (Mission accomplished.) Seeing Christina Applegate say “ASS-es the window” on the previews made me laugh, and that was enough for me to buy a ticket.
What I liked about it was that the humor wasn’t the “punchline-pause-badabump” sort of thing, but more a continuing sense of “this is silly and stupid, and thus funny.” Low-key is a refreshing change for a comedy these days. Plus, there seemed to be some nice chemistry between Gwyneth Paltrow and Mark Ruffalo as her law student boyfriend, and chemistry is something even some high-powered romantic comedies can’t muster up.
If anything, the movie was just a little too nice. It could have benefited from more of an edge, and certainly from more screen time for Kelly Preston (Mrs. John Travolta) as Paltrow’s blowsy fellow flight attendant. She had a great edge that could have pushed this movie above the “pleasant distraction” category.