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Flightplan
Jodie
Foster might not work much these days, but she does manage
to pick the good ones. Flightplan isn’t an
action film. There are no gargantuan explosions or manic
fight scenes. But you will get caught up in the story, the
urgency, and the terror that is the idea of losing your
daughter, and possibly your mind, on an international flight.
Jodie
Foster plays Kyle (pronounced “Kylie”) Pratt,
an aeronautics engineer who has just lost her husband. She’s
returning to the United States with her young daughter,
Julia, and transporting her husband’s body for burial
at home.
In mid
flight, Julia disappears, and an already emotionally devastated
Kyle has to struggle to convince the passengers and crew
that her daughter is not only in danger, but against all
evidence to the contrary, that Julia was ever on board.
Fighting their, and her own, doubt at her mental stability
plus the growing paranoia of everybody on the plane, Kyle
does everything possible to save her child.
It had
me interested, engaged, and really and truly wondering what
was going to happen next. It starts off slowly, but this
helps build up the suspense, and growing doubt of Kyle’s
sanity. Is she actually crazy, or is there something else
being staged?
Now,
Flightplan isn’t perfect. I really wasn’t
surprised when we got to learn what was actually going on,
but I was totally lost as to whose reality we were living
in during the movie.
As the
distraught Kyle, Jodie’s acting in this one is up
to par, We see in the beginning that she’s having
problems dealing with one traumatic event, and so throw
in her daughter disappearing on a long flight to the States,
it’s enough to send her over the edge.
To my
utter delight, for the first time in a while, Sean Bean
wasn’t the villain. He was just the poor Captain Rich
just doing his job, and making decisions as the facts were
presented to him. Watching him struggle to try and to think
of the best way to placate Kyle is engaging, while still
leaving the possibility that he might know more about what’s
going on that she does.
Peter
Sarsgaard is adequate as the Flight Marshal Gene Carson,
exasperated at this possibly delusional passenger, who has
a disturbing knowledge of the planes mechanics. I’m
just not fully convinced of him as a Flight Marshal. All
of the flight attendants are well played, griping about
various passengers and where problems might stem from. It’s
interesting to watch their reactions to all the events,
as it can lead to further clues.
One
of the more interesting parts of the movie was the plane
itself. That was a marvel of engineering. The set designer
got the coach sections correct; it felt mildly cramped,
but first class was a marvel of comfort, and mildly disgusting
in its luxury. But the truly impressive part was the sheer
amount of space on the plane. There were two full bars present,
with lounges attached!
Watching
Kyle run around the plane hunting for her daughter was engaging
for main story reasons, and for the side pleasure of marveling
at the plane design itself. If planes like that actually
existed, I’m pretty sure I’d cross the Atlantic
more often, with those kind of amenities available to me.
I am also pretty sure that any real flight techs, engineers,
or people with general knowledge of airplane design and
mechanics would laugh themselves silly at some of the features
of this plane. I can believe a Mercedes in the cargo hold,
but an attic space with little but insulation and a giant
switchboard system? Hard to fathom the airlines would waste
that much space.
There
is a small plot hole that only becomes apparent after you’ve
seen the film in it’s entirety, but I’ll leave
that for you to figure out. Any clues might ruin the suspense
of the movie, and that’s it’s main draw feature.
It’s worth seeing, folks, so I suggest you buckle
up, sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.
Rating:
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