Metascore
27 out of 100

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 30 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 30
  2. Negative: 19 out of 30
  1. 75
    Adult audiences may be underwhelmed. Not younger teenage girls, who will be completely fascinated.
  2. 70
    There's a good chance that it will make you laugh, but even if it doesn't, you have to give Barreto credit for respecting his audience. The movie's jokes have a light, springy touch; if one doesn't tickle you, it sails by quickly to make room for the next one.
  3. 60
    The tone seesaws between comic wackiness and romantic sincerity, with Paltrow better suited to the latter.
  4. 50
    Why Paltrow, who was accepting a best actress Oscar four years ago, would take this clumsily written role is anyone's guess.
  5. Reviewed by: Mike Clark
    50
    Hollywood's oddest movie in a while, which means that however insignificant this primer in flight-attendant training is, causing boredom isn't one of its transgressions.
  6. 50
    A mediocre diversion -– a movie better watched at home where the remote control can be used (if necessary) to fast forward to the film's best part: the obligatory end credit outtakes.
  7. A romantic comedy with all the confectionary value of one of those watery diet shakes; it practically evaporates while you're watching it.
  8. There are more laughs to be wrought out of Myers' militant flight-attendant training school, and they're just not there.
  9. 50
    Over in a breeze, padded out by a generous collection of outtakes, and filled with characters who disappear virtually unnoticed, View is an inoffensive comedy that feels like the victim of too much fiddling.
  10. It's meant to be harmless fluff. It is.
  11. Reviewed by: Kevin Carr
    40
    Clearly a love letter to Paltrow, offering her plenty of moments to show off, but her acting is often flat and the self-adoration of the movie is almost too much to handle.
  12. The movie is full of puzzling celebrity cameos, as if Brazilian director Bruno Barreto called in all his chits.
  13. Mike Myers, responsible for the picture's one, or possibly two, laughs.
  14. 30
    Frankly, the film's nostalgia for the "coffee, tea or me?" era of flying, when stewardesses were fantasy figures in soaring heels and uniforms tailored for bust enhancement rather than utility, is retro in all the wrong ways.
  15. Reviewed by: Robert Koehler
    30
    Flubs nearly every opportunity to be the comedy it wanted to be.
  16. There's not much zest here, even with Mike Myers's energetic attempts to steal the movie as a cross-eyed flight instructor.
  17. 25
    It's a no-go. View From the Top boasts a first-class cast, but they're all traveling coach.
  18. 25
    Never achieves takeoff.
  19. 25
    Co-star Christina Applegate, who's much more at home in this down and dirty milieu, wipes the floor (in one scene, literally, in a ludicrous cat fight) with the erstwhile Oscar winner.
  20. An awkward comedy made surprisingly bearable, most of the way, by one actress' ability to turn on the charm and sparkle.
  21. View from the Top never gets off the bottom -- comedies don't come much flatter.
  22. I think this camp classic is an accident along the lines of "Showgirls": howlingly funny, filled with gratingly earnest performances, riddled with dialogue that will be quoted at parties.
  23. 20
    Just lies there, poorly lit and tone-deaf.
  24. 20
    The film, meanwhile, goes for that choppy, air-pocket sensation, veteran helmer Bruno Barreto directing like he's never made a movie before, and never wants to again.
  25. Worth commenting on only for its shocking ineptitude.
  26. Ms. Paltrow is not the only star in the film who tries gamely to churn this cinematic glass of diluted skim milk into something resembling butter.
  27. 16
    If the new I-wanna-be-a-stewardess picture View From the Top were an airplane, it would blow up on takeoff. If it were an airline meal, it would infect you with E. coli. If it were a parachute, it would be riddled with holes.
  28. Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    12
    Who on earth is this embarrassment -- easily the worst film of the year to date -- aimed at?
  29. The damn thing is boring. Dull as dirt. Despite the many fine actors involved, View From the Top is a third-class production through and through and, frankly, I'd rather be pelted in the head with stale, salty peanuts than sit through it again.
  30. All the same, it's a feat to find the lowest common denominator at 40,000 feet; View From the Top would be perfect as the first in-flight offering of the new Hooters airline.
User Score

Mixed or average reviews- based on 17 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 10
  3. Negative: 5 out of 10
  1. 10
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. View from the Top is a (supposed) comedy about a smalltown girl who was always told that she was nothing and that she deserved nothing. Instead of doing nothing, however, she instead overcame these setbacks and became a first class, international flight attendant for a leading airline, Royalty Airlines. In the process of serving for the airline, she met the famous retired flight attendant that inspired her to achieve her goals in life, Sally Mason; encountered some difficulties with the people that she thought were her friends; and fell in love with one of her previous flight attendant friends' boyfriend, Ted. Even though the 2003 comedy scored a 14% on Rotten Tomatoes, I thought that this was an excellent film and a great attestment to the message, "Don't let anything stand in the way of your dreams." Even though the comedy might be a little bit subtle in some parts of the movie, I would definitely recommend this film to anyone looking for a nice, heart-warming tale. Full Review »
  2. TonyB.
    1
    This is a film of virtually no importance, consequence or merit. Why was it made?