L'amore in valigia

By Jonathan L Hermitt

After watching this movie, the only thing that should be "claimed" is a refund.

Director-writer David E Talbert provided a creatively idle rom-com starring Paula Patton (Montana Moore); as a flight attendant who under the pressure of her mother (Jennifer Lawrence) and the wedding engagement of her younger sister (Lauren London) somehow finds herself in a position where she has to locate and bring a fiancé to her sister's rehearsal dinner in thirty days. In doing so, she uses her friends to set up an arguably illegal "spy network" to find out which of her ex- boyfriends are taking which flights- so she can manipulate herself aboard and hopefully start again with these men.

She wears the long, straight rom-com hair of ignorance with the smile of innocence which I like to call a ritual of rom-com. The story was naturally predictable adhering to every single rom-com textbook story model and so heavily resting on weak humour. Alongside the contemporary traditional female friend and gay male friend duo (similar to Devil's Wear Prada) it's one large equation for mediocre...if that.

I'm not particularly familiar with Talbert and this is the first film I've seen of his, regardless, in this film it's strongly indicative that he's chosen quantity over quality.

I have no idea whether or not Paula Patton actually read the script before signing up for the role, but this movie certainly does little to nothing but justify her talents. If you've watched her in Deja Vu, then this movie will strike you as the lowest she's ever sunken in her movie roles. The storyline is very weak to say the least. You can literally guess what will happen from one scene to the very last, including the credits. I felt sorry for actors like Trey Songz. If he is serious about acting, this may not have been a good movie to make his first impression in. The movie's attempt at humor was also poor. There was only one joke the audience laughed at in the whole movie. I am not surprised the movie was pulled out from the theaters in my neighborhood after only a few days. It is one that belongs to the DVDs.

I don't know what movie the critics were watching, but the ratings were totally unfair. The audience and I found the movie to be very funny. David Talbert produced a funny, relevant movie. See it with your female friends because they will find things in it are so true. Nothing can be more funny than the truth. So don't take the critics word for this movie see it yourself.

Paula Patton, Adam Brody and Jill Scott were so funny. I expected Adam to be funny because of his work on 'The O.C.", but Paula and Jill were pleasant surprises. Jennifer Lewis delivered another excellent performance and Taye Diggs understated performance was dead-on for his character.

Flight attendant Montana (Paula Patton) is about to turn 30 and just broken up with her boyfriend as he was cheating on her. Her sister is engaged to get married soon and her 5 times married mother is pressuring her to get married.

Egged on by her friends, Montana has 30 days to get proposed by one of her ex boyfriends. Her coworkers conspire with other airline workers and airport staff to fly on planes where her ex-boyfriends happen to be there. This include a rising conservative politician, a hip hop artist and a businessman. However right under Montana's nose is her best friend Bill.

This is the kind of dumb film that gives romantic comedies a bad name. It is not funny nor romantic and hopelessly predictable.

Do you really want to allow your mother pestering you to get married, someone who failed with her own husbands? Why do you want to reconnect with your ex's? There were probably a good reason why you broke up with them in the first place. In fact why does Montana want to get married? She could just live with someone and see what develops. The film has an awful misogynic undertone.

Playwright David Talbert directs this so called romantic comedy starring Paula Patton as Montana Moore, a lovelorn woman and flight attendant desperate to find true love. After finding out that her little sister is getting married, Montana becomes obsessed with finding a man. So obsessed that with the help of her friends and fellow flight attendants, she tracks down all of her ex boyfriends to see if true love blossoms. Frantically flying from one city to another eventually leads her to her best friend William (Derek Luke)as they realize they're feelings for each other in the end.

Aside from the all star cast, there are so many things wrong with this film. For one, the plot is so unrelatable and cliché. There's a scene in the beginning where Montana runs through the airport saying "According to my mother, you're not a lady unless you're married on or before your 30th birthday. You're not a woman until you've had at least two kids". If I watch one more romantic comedy that consist of mindless, pathetic dialogue like this, I'll scream ! Why would a beautiful woman, a good woman who could clearly have any man she wants spend so much time chasing down ex flames who a) weren't right for her and b) clearly show the same reasons as to why she broke up with them or vice versa in the first place.

The directing is poor. David Talbert, writer and director of several wonderful stage plays resorts to using corny clichés and weak dialogue to carry the film along and it just doesn't work. It's the same old plot of the lonely girl/guy putting themselves in stupid and unnecessary situations to seek love and romance. Oh and of course there's the case of the pretentious and even more desperate, proud, loving mom who due to her own snooty, high standards, pressures her daughters into believing that a man is necessary to have to prove that you're a woman, a role that Jenifer Lewis, as talented as she is, continues to play very well.

The acting is mediocre. Paula Patton, Jill Scott, Derek Luke and Adam Body are all good actors. Yet, its unfortunate that the acting wasn't up to par. In addition, the wacky performance by several co stars such as Trey Songz and Tia Mowry do not do the film any justice.

The film would've been better with an original plot and better dialogue and acting.