Gwenyth Paltrow takes to the skies in View From the Top, a movie that was seemingly destined to crash immediately upon takeoff. Surprisingly, just like Paltrow's character, the movie manages to be meagerly successful.

Paltrow stars as Donna, a young woman trapped in Nowhere U.S.A. and seemingly destined to remain there. Of course, she believes her destiny lies somewhere else, so she becomes a flight attendant for a crappy airline. Her ambitions soon lead her to an international airline, only to have her dreams crushed when she does not pass the entrance exams (but her friend, played by Christina Applegate, does). Of course, that isn't the end, especially since she has met a guy (Mark Ruffalo) that could make her happy despite what career she ends up in - after all, the only way women can be happy are when they are with their significant other, right?

View from the Top is a pretty goofy movie and never really tries to be anything more. Technically it is a romantic comedy, as the last little bit does really focus on the relationship between Paltrow and Ruffalo (with the typical cliches), but most of the movie is about Paltrow fulfilling her desire to become an international flight attendant and make it to Paris. This leads her through a stint as a flight attendant on a really stingy airline, training sessions with the always-funny Mike Meyers (he is pretty damn funny here), and... well, other stuff.

Sure, the movie is cheesy, and at times is a little too stupid to handle, but all in all is a generally entertaining and lighthearted. Honestly, I was expecting an absolutely dreadful movie (neither the trailers nor reviews were all that kind when this debuted in theaters), but instead received a pleasingly fun film that is hard to hate.

View From the Top is moderately funny and marks an entertaining performance from Mike Meyers. It isn't a repeat-watch, but has enough goods to warrant some interest.

Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.