Our Rating: 3.00
Chad Everett. Swooning at his cameo in “View From the Top,” I drifted into a ’70s TV reverie, starring Chad and Randolph Mantooth and . . . I digress. Easy to do while watching this slight you-go-girl fable about trailer-trash cutie Donna Jensen (Gwyneth Paltrow), who leverages her beauty and moxie into a stewardess career. With a gleam in her eye, Donna covets the retro lifestyle of the ’60s Pan Am bird: mod apartment, sleek uniform, haughty attitude. While movin’ on up from skanky airline to mediocre airline to hoity-toity airline–with the help of legendary stewardess Sally Weston (Candice Bergen)–she falls for nice guy Ted (Mark Ruffalo) and must make the Big Choice: true love or personal destiny. A funny supporting cast (except disappointing, gimmicky Mike Myers) and some chuckle-worthy moments make this a good-hearted but ultimately unmemorable jaunt.
This article appears in Mar 19-25, 2003.