"Baggage Claim" is weighed down with typical rom-com cliches (Fox Searchlight Pictures).

"Baggage Claim" tells the story of Montana Moore, played by the gorgeous and quirky Paula Patton. Montana is a 30-something-year-old flight attendant desperately looking for true love and a man to put a ring on it. To make matters worse, her overbearing mother equates marriage with becoming a real woman and places the burdens of her confused philosophy on her daughter.

Don’t forget to add more fuel to the fire; rom-coms are never fun without a time crunch. Montana must find a husband before her younger sister’s wedding rehearsal dinner. With no time to meet new candidates, her BFFs (Adam Brody and Jill Scott) devise a plan for the quirky flight attendant to embark on a 30-day mission to find Mr. Right. She will go through the list of all her ex-flames and coincidentally re-connect with them as they fly for the holidays.

Simple enough, right? Finding love in 30 days is a cliché storyline, but "Baggage Claim" had the potential of being another fun rom-com.

What leads the film astray is its execution and lack of believability. Let’s go through some of the reasons why the film is nothing but a pile of lost luggage:
       
1. Paula Patton is a bombshell!  As much as director David E. Talbert may try to dress Patton as a nerdy, awkward and loveless romantic – she’s Paula Patton! If she can’t find a man to put a ring on it, good luck to the rest of the women in the world hoping to find the same. 

2. Montana tries to catch every flight that an ex-flame is on. If she is flying around the country day and night, how is she not jet-lagged? It was tiresome just trying to figure out where she was headed next. 

3. Why are all her exes a part of the 1% of the population?  Each of her ex-loves is a successful businessman, mogul or entrepreneur. Perhaps, that’s her problem at its core. But at least Boris Kodjoe, Trey Songz and Djimon Hounsou make for good eye-candy. 

4. In order to execute their plan, Montana and her friends must do some extremely illegal activities. Flight attendant or not, people aren’t allowed to run through airport security and track down their lovers through confidential flight information. Security?

5. And lastly, the writing and cinematography kick the movie while its down. The script is overly simplistic, formulaic and cheesy. Disney princess music drowns out the awful prose and the special effects are those used in a 1970s "Star Wars" film (i.e. Montana caught in a rainstorm.)

"Baggage Claim" is disappointing beyond belief.

Perhaps the film’s only saving grace is Paula Patton herself. She may not be the greatest actress alive, but her charm and humor resonate on screen. She pulls off some funny stunts (cue her Mission Impossible days) and shines through an otherwise abysmal movie. 

It’s unfortunate that Talbert didn’t use the resources that he had in the film. There are phenomenal actors in the flick (i.e Tia Mowry, a humorous Affion Crockett, Derek Luke, Taye Diggs, the list goes on and on!), but each one only gets about 5 minutes of screen time. 

Although the movie is a romantic comedy, perhaps the funniest thing that stays with the audience is “never trust a Black republican.” So do yourself a favor and pass on "Baggage Claim." "Best Man Holiday" is on its way and is bound to show you what Black Hollywood can really do!

Watch the trailer for "Bagagge Claim" below.

Reach Staff Reporter Jillian Baker here.