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Review

Flightplan

Director

Robert Schwentke

Year

2005

Rating

Reviewed by

Gon Curiel a.k.a. Groucho

Review date

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

After the unexpected death of her husband (suicide, no less), Kyle (Jodie Foster) is struck by paranoia. She decides to take the body to her home country in America, taking along her small daughter Julia (Marlene Lawston) to start anew over there. The flight takes place in a most modern aircraft, one she knows to perfection since she helped design its engines. Everything goes fine as mother and daughter start coping with reality during their flight, until Kyle takes a fatidic nap, and wakes up to discover her daughter’s missing… and seems to not have been there at all.

The story picks up its premise from Hitchcock’s masterful The Lady Vanishes (1938), and doesn’t do bad in building up the suspense and constructing the mystery. Two key elements from that classic film are essential to this one: The fact that we’re not sure whether the protagonist is mad, and the fact that everything and everyone around proves that she is… except for one person. This time this hero is not exactly a hero: Carson (Peter Sarsgaard) is doubtful and doesn’t treat Kyle very well. Yet, most times he gets a chance to help, he does, and he’s more a relief than anything else to our heroine. Most of the film she’s sure she’s saying the truth, though indeed, it’s quite clear she’s not. Or is it? What’s going on? Why did this happen? The fact that she knows the aircraft like the palm of her hand helps a lot, but sometimes that isn’t enough… You have to keep a clear mind and be as resourceful as possible.

Jodie Foster is a fantastic actress. She’s done very few movies all in all, especially lately, but somehow she always manages to leave a mark and make her appearances unique. As a distressed mother she’s perfection. She grasps the anguish and the urgency at every turn and it’s quite hard to believe the actress is really NOT as distressed as she seems. The character is very meaty, too. She’s an intelligent woman who might be losing her mind but is not losing half her impulse. She’s like a wild beast that can’t be caught, even when caught. Her eye movements match her quick speech, her sudden jumps, her races across the aisle, and her fast thinking. She’s everything you could wish for in a lead character.

The story around her doesn’t match that by far. Even though I can’t complain about the suspense, I must say I had to ignore more than a few attempts on basic logic to fully enjoy the experience. After leaving the theater however, I was obliged to think back and realize how many mistakes and plot holes there are, and how sad it is that a fine script is marred by some laziness here and there. I don’t think it’d be too hard to fix some of the clear problems of the script, so I’m really disappointed. A potentially excellent movie marred by little, stupid things.

Other than that, it’s pretty good. I guess the casting is its biggest asset. Sarsgaard is great at every stage of his character, as are Sean Bean as the pilot, Kate Beahan and Erika Christensen as stewardesses, et al.

As a positive side note, I might add there are more than a few laughs throughout, which are welcome. The other free pleasure the movie offers is the tour inside a sophisticated plane, which is something we rarely (if ever) see. James Horner’s music is good, too. Fine editing, cool photography, and a nice directing job. Yet…

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Other reviews of Flightplan (2005): Morris

Review

Flightplan

Director

Robert Schwentke

Year

2005

Rating

Reviewed by

José Ruiloba a.k.a. Morris

Review date

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Who would’ve said that suspenseful movies that take place on planes would make for such high entertainment value after 9/11 and so many accidents of late? I, for one, am terribly frightened of planes. I hate the whole flying experience. But this is the second movie in a short period of time that tackles extreme situations in this scenario... and I loved both of them! I guess it has to do with the fact that they’re both well made and that they just work. That leaves everything else in second place.

Kyle (Jodie Foster) just lost her husband after he fell from the roof at their home in Berlin. She thus intends to take her daughter Julia (Marlene Lawston) to New York to start a new life. But in the flight home, something strange happens: Kyle falls asleep and when she wakes up, Julia has disappeared. She then starts a frantic search for her daughter, with several degrees of help from the likes of the on-board U.S. Marshall, Carson (Peter Sarsgaard), the captain (Sean Bean) and the flight attendants.

Flightplan is one of those movies which is better seen not knowing anything about it beforehand (one could argue this is the case with every movie, but suspenseful ones get priority in this department). Showing traits from Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes, the movie builds huge momentum until a final third that is both revelatory and absolutely nerve-wracking, even more so for the untrained eye. I was literally on the edge of my seat, for at this point we are absolutely immersed in the story and we identify with Kyle’s horrific struggle. Even when a big explanatory plot point is revealed, the movie has a half hour to go, and there’s no hint of where it’s heading, which is refreshing and a great experience at the same time.

Kyle happens to know the very big and very modern plane by heart, since she helped build it. That’s pivotal, since she is always at the same level of knowledge as the crew. No fooling her there. So for the first two-thirds the movie plays like a cat-and-mouse game between Kyle and… everybody! Yet it’s fascinating because there are restrictions, one of which is that whatever happened should still be going on, since they are all, well, on a plane. As with most thrillers though, the movie is better when not much is known. The final part feels a bit rushed and over-the-top, but it’s an action movie, and the level of intelligence is there until the credits roll, so I went with it and had a lot of fun. I especially liked a bit in which Kyle has a revelation and makes a clever decision that buys her time.

As a matter of fact, she always makes good decisions. I was relieved that once again, as in Red Eye, we get a smart leading lady, one who is always thinking ahead, making the right questions, figuring things out in credible fashion. She’s right there with us and I really responded to that.

As a side note, the movie is particularly interesting as a lesson on the inside of a plane. We get to know about every single inch of it and it’s a hoot.

The movie has a complicated plot, but I liked that at the end everything made sense, even with so many intricate threads. It is far-fetched, I know, but well-written and well-handled by the director, Robert Schwentke.

Jodie Foster is fantastic, which is always the case with her. We completely buy her into the role and she pulls it off at every step. I also liked Sean Bean in an against-type role. Peter Sarsgaard is his usual good. Kate Beahan and Erika Christensen are also good as flight attendants, although I believe the latter was somewhat wasted. That said, I have a theory about her casting choice which I cannot delve into without spoilers, so... not here. And Lawston is ok as the daughter, sometimes toying in the line between typical-cute-child-actor-performance and better-than-expected.

Exciting!

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Other reviews of Flightplan (2005): Groucho