View from the Top
Directed by	Bruno Barreto
Produced by	Brad Grey Matthew Baer Bobby Cohen
Written by	Eric Wald
Starring	Gwyneth Paltrow Christina Applegate Mark Ruffalo Candice Bergen Joshua Malina Kelly Preston Rob Lowe Mike Myers
Distributed by	Miramax Films
Release date(s)	March 21 2003
Running time	87 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

View from the Top is a 2003 film directed by Bruno Barreto.

Main cast

• Gwyneth Paltrow .... Donna Jensen
• Christina Applegate .... Christine Montgomery
• Mark Ruffalo .... Ted Stewart
• Candice Bergen .... Sally Weston
• Joshua Malina .... Randy Jones
• Kelly Preston .... Sherry
• Rob Lowe .... Pilot Steve Bench
• Mike Myers .... John Witney
• Marc Blucas .... Tommy Boulay
• Stacey Dash .... Angela Samona
• Jon Polito .... Roy Roby
• Concetta Tomei .... Mrs. Stewart
• Robyn Peterson .... Donna's Mom
• Nadia Dajani .... Paige
• John Francis Daley .... Rodney

Plot

• Tagline: Don't stop till you reach the top.

Donna is a girl from a small town who wishes to see the world. She reads a book by Sally Weston, a flight attendant who has flown to practically everywhere, and decides to become a flight attendant at a small commuter airline.

After gaining a little experience, Donna decides to apply to a major airline. She convinces her two co-workers, Sherry and Christine, to join her. While Christine and Donna get in, Sherry does not. Donna puts her heart and soul into the new position, and, after meeting her idol Sally Weston, she is determined to be assigned to an international route. Alas, when the assignments are posted, Donna is shocked to discover that she has been assigned to a commuter route in Cleveland. It is revealed that Donna's friend Christine switched her and Donna's identification numbers when handing in the exams to the instructor, and thus Donna is assigned a commuter route out of Cleveland, while Christine moves to New York and is assigned a better route in a more prestigious division of the airline.

Later, Donna meets Christine in Cleveland. Donna knows from previous experience that Christine always steals things from people's homes (things that to Christine, are there for the taking) and from the airplane such as soap, perfume, etc., which is strictly forbidden and could mean termination. Donna goes to Sally Weston because she suspects there was a mistake in her test. Sally is on her side and eventually Donna gets to to a retest. Donna gets 100% correct, the first person in 7 years. However, deciding to fight for what she wants means deciding between a boyfriend and her career. She chooses her career.

Though she gets all that she wants - Paris, first class, etc. - Donna realizes that she is still not happy. She misses her boyfriend in Cleveland terribly, and with Sally Weston's encouragement, she returns to Cleveland to meet him. She does, and after a heartfelt speech to his grandmother which he overhears, the two kiss and make up. The movie ends with Donna wishing her passengers well as they land in Cleveland. She has become a Royalty Airlines pilot.

Trivia

• At the end of the credits there are a few deleted scenes.
• There is a cameo of George Kennedy. The veteran of the Airport movies (Airport (1970), etc) is the man in first-class who declines Donna's offer of champagne and caviar.
• This film wrapped filming in 2001, and was originally scheduled for a Christmas 2001 release. However, after the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001, the studio felt it was not appropriate to release a comedy that made light of airline flight crews. After another year on the shelf and another round of edits, which cut out cameo appearances by Robert Stack and Regis Philbin, the film was finally released in Spring 2003.
• The segment where the trainee flight attendants at Royalty Airlines are undergoing training by Mike Myers's character included a lesson on how to deal with terrorists. The scene was cut from the film, and was not included on the DVD release as a deleted scene.
• The DVD includes a special supplement about the history of the flight attendant.
• Paltrow calls the film a "terrible movie" that Harvey Weinstein talked her into starring in. She puts the film into the 'shite' category of films that she has acted in, meaning she took the role only for the paycheck.^[1]

References

External links

• Official site
• View from the Top at the Internet Movie Database
• Movie stills

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