Baggage Claim (2013)
5/10
It's the 21st century. No one needs a man or a woman to define them.
17 July 2016
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.
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