We love a woman in uniform

View From the Top

Rating: * * 1/2 (out of 5)
Director: Bruno Barreto
Running time: 87 minutes
Language: English
Currently showing

"View From the Top" should really be called "Airport! (Just Kidding)" or "Yikes at JFK" but after 9/11, jokes about flying -- however innocuous -- never make it past studio boardroom discussions.

This is precisely why "View From the Top," which had initially been slated for an autumn release in 2001, was gathering dust on Miramax shelves for two years. Trimmed and re-edited (apparently there were some problematic scenes involving Middle Eastern passengers) the picture has finally reached theaters, but it's hard to tell whether this revamping by director Bruno Barreto did a whole lot of good.

You know when the turbulence is so rough you're compelled to giggle into your drink and trade hairy flying stories with your neighbor? This is what the viewing experience of "View From the Top" boils down to: so bad you gotta talk about it, but when you talk about it, it's fun. You're tempted, in fact, to sit down with a bag of saturated-fat potato chips and watch a whole slew of airplane movies that Hollywood once delighted in churning out with regularity.