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siskoid 's review for:
Ayoade on Top
by Richard Ayoade
It's pretty obvious that the only reason to watch the wretched Gwyneth Paltrow vehicle (that's a plane joke) View from the Top is as a companion to reading Richard Ayoade's Ayoade on Top, which deconstructs it Cahiers du Cinéma style. Did all the A-listers in this thing lose a bet? Why does Rob Lowe have, like, a single scene? Did he owe Joshua Molina for replacing him on The West Wing? One thing this cabin crew confidential can't claim is that it knows a damn thing about the airline industry. None of it feels real - especially the bad wigs - nor can we believe Gwyneth as a Nevadan the way she says her state's name. In an apparent state of panic to try and make it "work", the director has slathered on over-obvious voice-over and an obnoxious number of just as obvious needle drops (several of them cheap covers!). I might need surgery to get my eyes back to the front of my face. Michael Meyers is in this as the worst sort of caricature, no doubt ad libbing himself into cross-eyed unfunniness. It's like he's in a different movie... and it's not any good either. View from the Top doesn't even know what its self-actualization message is (except, self-help books will save your life), as it surrenders to romcom clichés (there's even Christmas action). Its best note is perhaps its last one, and not just because it makes you think it's over, because it's not - please suffer through this blooper reel before you disembark. Ayoade on Top better be worth it...
Spoiler: It is.
Ayoade on Top treats View from the Top as an unheralded classic, turning its weaknesses back onto itself and declaring them strengths. It is a book dripping in irony, and while I will agree you do not have to see the movie for it to work, it's a good companion. It's better with the full context even if that context must be endured. Indeed, the ironical author's goal of putting View from the Top on the map is achieved. The movie, better forgotten by all stars involved, will forever be relevant as a prelude to this very funny, literate book. Ayoade's style is in full bloom - silly literalism, cod-academic verbosity, personal asides that get him well off-track (a mixed metaphor, surely) - and for me at least, part of the charm is that I appear to have a lot of the same cultural baggage. Well not the Swedish-Nigerian heritage, I mean in terms of what films I have seen and books I have read. 90% of the references were meant for me specifically. The proof is in the salted nuts: I laughed and/or giggled a lot reading this, and I was sorry it was over so quickly.
Spoiler: It is.
Ayoade on Top treats View from the Top as an unheralded classic, turning its weaknesses back onto itself and declaring them strengths. It is a book dripping in irony, and while I will agree you do not have to see the movie for it to work, it's a good companion. It's better with the full context even if that context must be endured. Indeed, the ironical author's goal of putting View from the Top on the map is achieved. The movie, better forgotten by all stars involved, will forever be relevant as a prelude to this very funny, literate book. Ayoade's style is in full bloom - silly literalism, cod-academic verbosity, personal asides that get him well off-track (a mixed metaphor, surely) - and for me at least, part of the charm is that I appear to have a lot of the same cultural baggage. Well not the Swedish-Nigerian heritage, I mean in terms of what films I have seen and books I have read. 90% of the references were meant for me specifically. The proof is in the salted nuts: I laughed and/or giggled a lot reading this, and I was sorry it was over so quickly.