Baggage Claim

Starring: Paula Patton, Derek Luke, Taye Diggs
Directed by: David E. Talbert (“First Sunday”)
Written by: David E. Talbert (“First Sunday”)

In “Baggage Claim,” Montana (Paula Patton) is a flight attendant who finds herself single 30 days before her younger sister is set to get married. With the help of her friends in the airline business, she finds which of her exes will be on cross country flights and “accidently” bumps into them, trying to reignite a passion so she can have a date to the wedding, and potentially find a husband.

One of the biggest issues with “Baggage Claim” is its message and flaw of its main character through most of the film. Montana is essentially trying to force a marriage, constantly whining about how she doesn’t have a husband. So in return, the audience is treated to a dreadful series of “meet cutes” in which she spends time with people who are completely wrong for her, and the relationships come unglued in “humorous” ways. It’s annoying to watch, especially considering how weak and dependent on others this character is written. Worse so, Patton clearly isn’t ready to anchor a film, giving an over-enthusiastic performance filled with overacting and a useless, and completely inauthentic sounding voiceover.

Nearly every supporting character is a stereotype. There’s the gay friend, the sassy and slutty friend, the overbearing mother. In fact, as the ex-boyfriends are paraded out, the list of characters grows and there isn’t an interesting one in the bunch. The only worthwhile relationship in the entire film is the one between Montana and best friend/neighbor Langston (Taye Diggs). It’s one of the few things the film does decently.

“Baggage Claim” isn’t funny, charming, genuine, or anything you’d hope a movie from the rom com genre would be. Instead, it’s a hokey romantic story about trying to force love when it isn’t there. The script is bad, nearly every joke misses, and, even worse, Patton has easily hit a career low with her terrible performance. Watch out all you other garbage cinema…”Baggage Claim” is going to fly away with your Razzies.