First Class

Camila Mendes is Ana, originally from Florida and, with an art degree, is a lowly assistant in a big name New York auction house. She is pretty broke, she sleeps on the futon in a very small apartment her sister shares with her boyfriend. On this fateful day her boss calls, she is told to go with them to London. Right now! There is a big art collection that needs to be auctioned off.

Ana is given an unexpected gift at the airport check-in, the agent sees how badly her catty co-workers were treating her so gives her an upgrade to first class. Thus the name of the movie.

In first class she sits next to a nice young British man and in the conversation she says something that leads him to believe she is the head of the auction house and she doesn't correct him. After all they don't know each other, she will probably never see him again and it felt good to feel important. But as the story develops it works out way differently.

Marisa Tomei is Claire, Ana's hard-driving boss, who speaks and sounds just like Celine Dione.

I like Tomei, she is good in everything, and I became a Mendes fan for her role as Veronica in the TV series 'Riverdale.' The two other assistants to Claire are overly annoying bullies in the workplace, a bit over the top I found, but otherwise it is a very well put together movie.

My wife and I enjoyed it, streaming on Amazon Prime, after our usual Saturday evening steak and wine dinner. With chocolate cake, of course!

Greetings again from the darkness. There is something to be said for 'fake it 'til you make it', but most of us find bold-faced lying is a bit more difficult to root for. There is also something to be said for keeping to the familiar path, as therein lies safety. Adhering to the familiar is exactly what actress-turned-director Carlson Young has accomplished with the script from co-writers Christine Lenig, Luke Spencer Roberts, and Justin Matthews. We know where this is headed once we hear Anna interpret a piece of art she has mounted (without permission) in the small apartment her sister and (overly boisterous) brother-in-law have allowed her to stay since she's in debt and without income.

Anna (Camila Mendes, "Riverdale) is chasing her dream of owning an art gallery, and has relocated to NYC for an internship at an art auction house run by dragon-boss Claire DuPont (Oscar winner Marisa Tomei in full Miranda Priestley mode). The Romantic Comedy formula kicks in pretty quickly as Anna gets a break at work and is invited to accompany Claire and her 'mean girl' minions to London for a big auction. Those minions (Fola Evans-Akingbola and Rachel Matthews) act as cruel stepmoms to Anna's Cinderella. The required meet-cute happens after Anna's titular upgrade to first class. While enjoying the airport spa, Anna accidentally dumps her Bloody Mary on rich boy Will's high-dollar clothes and shoes.

Anna and Will (Archie Reneax, THE GREATEST BEER RUN EVER, 2022) are of course seated next to each other in first class for the transatlantic flight. It's at this point where she chooses to avoid clarifying her role at the auction house, allowing Will (he's rich and he adores kids!) to believe she's the youngest Director in company history. This lie spirals as Anna weaves her way into the daily life of princely Will and his wealthy mom Catherine (Lena Olin, her must see film is THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING, 1988). Supporting work comes from Anthony Head as dead-by-design artist Julian Marx, and Thomas Kretschmann (KING KONG, 2005) as Arnold, the head of the company.

Every step of the story is predictable, and no apologies are necessary since this is precisely what fans of Hallmark Movies can't get enough of. Ms. Mendes flashes the charm required for the role, and she's surrounded by some other very talented folks. For those who prefer a bit more depth to characters and storylines, you likely already know this one's not made for you. But for those who find pleasantry in the safe path with no surprise twists ... a journey where the lovely liars get all the breaks since their heart is in the right place ... this one's for you.

Opens on February 9, 2024 on Prime Video.

A light, lovely romantic comedy with great acting, believable chemistry between loves, friends and "foes", enthralling to the romantic mind score and gorgeous photography of London and its auctions world and expositions.

All that are made in a tight and lovely production that I don't care how much realism it bears, cause as long as I "walked by and with" Ana played by the talented and loca beautiful Camila Mendes, I got the pleasure to live for a brief period a beautiful fictive life on Futons, staring at "swans" drawn with squares, circles and triangles all in cute lively colors, have a sit in first class, rest like an emperor and breath the fresh, humid air of London.

It's a rom-com movie for romantic people and you could see the difference between the superior 'Upgraded' and the lesser in terms of entertainment, loveliness and chemistry as 'Anyone but You'.

• Screenplay/storyline/plots: 7
• Development: 8
• Realism: 7
• Entertainment: 8.5
• Acting: 8
• Filming/photography/animation: 8
• VFX: 8
• Music/score/sound: 7.5
• Depth: 7.5
• Logic: 6
• Flow: 8
• Comedy/romance: 7
• Ending: 6.5.

Upgraded tells the story of an overworked, unappreciated intern aspiring to work in the high end art world. She is upgraded to first class on a flight and it sets off a chain of events that get her further and further in over her head.

First I threw this movie on as background fodder and I enjoyed it significantly more than I expected to. It has a "Devil wears Prada" feel where Marisa Tomei's character (and her assistants) are just impossibly rude and unlikable. It can get downright depressing as you see this hardworking girl just straight abused by the people she wants to be impressing. There are some decent comedic elements here and while they sometimes land, sometimes fall flat on their face, it helps break up the tension. The cast of characters introduced in act two are enjoyable and fun to spend time with, in contract to who we meet at the start of the film.

There are some issues with this movie. It can feel terribly cheesy at points. The story takes too many many unbelievable, "that would never happen, what the heck is going on?' moments that a better script could have avoided. Also - the main character can be downright selfish and hard to root for at many points in the story and I think it they wanted us so badly to root for her. Without getting into any spoilers - the ending feels unearned and should have been reworked to fit the story they were actually telling.

Overall for its straight to streaming feel, this is one of the better films of its type. It isn't a 'must watch' but a solid piece of cinema you can throw on at the end of a bad day.

3 out of 5 stars.

Liked the tone of this show. Self deprecating humor. Camilla Mendes stars as an auction house assistant who gets upgraded to first class. That leads to her pretending to be her boss. Like Working Girl. These set in Europe rom coms can be a little superficial but this one brings you into the art world. And the scenery doesn't overwhelm the story. The glamorous world of auction houses and art folks in London is a nice change. Things work out quite neatly.

Marisa Tomei is quite good here as the Devil Wears Prada type boss. Quite a transformation with the accent and persona. Camilla Mendes is watchable and intelligent looking and it is nice to see her out of Riverdale. She can do different and more mature roles now. Lena Olin is quite fun to watch. Archie the love interest isn't well cast. Does not have the privileged vibe.

She did treat him badly and he told her off but what made him forgive her wasn't shown.

An entertaining enough watch.