WHO’S IN IT?
Paula Patton (Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” By Sapphire), Adam Brody (Jennifer’s Body), Djimon Hounsou (In America), Taye Diggs (Chicago), Christina Milian (Be Cool), Derek Luke (Antwone Fisher), Boris Kodjoe (Surrogates), Tia Mowry-Hardict (The Hot Chick), Terrence Jenkins (Think Like A Man), Jenifer Lewis (The Princess and the Frog), Lauren London (This Christmas), La La Anthony (You Got Served), Jill Scott (Hounddog)
WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?
David E. Talbert (First Sunday), director, writer, co-producer; Steven J. Wolfe ((500) Days of Summer), producer; Aaron Zigman (The Notebook), composer; Anastas N. Michos (Man on the Moon), cinematographer; Troy Takaki (Hitch), editor
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
Montana Moore (Patton) is determined to find a husband in thirty days, before her youngest sister gets married, in an attempt to not be the only woman in her family without a partner. Using her airline connections as a flight attendant, she “unintentionally” bumps into her ex-boyfriends as well as find some newer potential suitors. All of which leads to over 30,000 miles of endless comedic possibilities before she finds the perfect man…
WHY SHOULD YOU BE EXCITED?
Abandon all penises, ye who enter here. This is strictly female-centric rom-com territory, and unless you’re a guy who’s into that sort of thing then you may as well search elsewhere for your dinner date with a movie. For those who are sticking around and won’t go away, then allow us to tell you more about Baggage Claim, a brand-new romantic-comedy that fans of the genre will more than surely eat up whole.
Like most others, this film sees a woman going out of her way, sometimes to the utmost extremes, to find that coveted Mr. Right with whom she can settle down with and more or less rely upon for the rest of her natural life. Now, of course these sorts of plot points are playing to the popular ideals of female activity: unless they can find a man who will sweep them up in their arms and take them away from all the troubles in their life, then they’re pretty much screwed and destined to become one of those crazy cat ladies. It’s the fairy tale princess trope, nothing more, nothing less.
But here’s the thing: has anyone ever stopped to consider that this whole thing might be a bit, well, sexist? Again, it’s playing to the popular ideals of the female mind, but the thought of finding and getting engaged to a man in less than thirty days, as Paula Patton’s protagonist here does, is kind of desperate on her part. Not to mention illogical to the extreme, but then when do you normally go to rom-coms expecting some sort of logic? It’s just that Disney princess ideal that harks all the way back to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, in that they fall in love at first sight and, all of a sudden, they can’t live apart from one another and simply have to get married.
However, we are not one to judge. After all, it has a decent cast of established players, from Patton to even Djimon Hounsou – now there’s someone you don’t see signing on to a rom-com like this – and the script and direction comes from David E. Talbert, the author of the book on which this film is based. The author making the adaptation has worked before, with Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being A Wallflower being a huge hit, but the material itself is what threatens to drag Baggage Claim down with it.
If you do still want to see it, then that’s great, hope you have a good time. Everyone else who gets dragged along, just remember to bring your iPods or something. It’s going to be a long ride.
