Movie Review - Baggage Claim

Baggage Claim ** (PG-13) The good news about this romantic comedy is that its protagonist, Paula Patton, lights the screen with star power to spare. Her warmth and wholesome beauty could make her the next Julia Roberts/Sandra Bullock-style America’s Sweetheart. The bad news is that she’ll have to find better vehicles to bring enough bodies to the box office. Patton plays a flight attendant about to turn 30 who is suddenly desperate for a beau on her arm in time for her kid sister’s imminent wedding. That sets her on a ridiculously complicated Odyssey of arranged accidental meetings with every guy she’d dated, hoping something might have changed enough for true love to blossom the second time around. The titular pun on her profession and emotional burdens tells all about the wit level to expect from the script and the cadre of caricatures with which it surrounds her.

Anna Faris subjected us to a similar, if less frenetic, journey a couple of years ago in What’s Your Number?, which wasn’t very funny, either. This one draws some visual energy from the premise of hordes of airline employees conspiring to tell her which old flame is on which plane so she can rush all over the country to "coincidentally" work that flight. Homeland Security might take issue with such broad and easy access to such information - at least by civilians. Others in the audience may tire of her desperation, or the formulaic course of the proceedings. Patton’s best bet is for a few casting directors to see potential beyond the material, making this a springboard to better roles. Then we can brag about having seen her bright future despite this dim-witted package. (9/27/13)