Flightplan (2005) August 15, 2007
Posted by gproject in : Recently Viewed , trackbackDirected by: Robert Schwentke
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This airborne thriller stars Jodie Foster as a mother who may, or may not, have lost her 6-year-old girl on board a flight from Germany to New York. After recently losing her husband, Kyle Pratt is flying the body back to the United States for burial, but things quickly get out of hand when Kyle’s daughter Julia suddenly disappears. With nobody on board having any recollection of even seeing the girl, Kyle’s story, and sanity, are called into question as she becomes increasingly distressed. Put under the guard of air marshal Carson (Peter Sarsgaard), she must convince him that her daughter exists, or risk losing the only family she has left.
I’ll admit that it sounds a little stupid, ridiculous even, but it’s worth pointing out that the plot set-up is not this film’s problem. First of all, let’s deal with the positives. The performances from a central cast consisting of Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard and Sean Bean are all perfectly fine, if straying into slightly melodramatic territory at times, while the dialogue plays perfectly naturally from each character. Director Robert Schwentke works hard to keep the claustrophobia effect on the plane high, but in reality it’s actually a very big plane, made even larger by the various service and maintenance areas we get to see. Things never feel too tight, but the cinematography itself is interesting enough considering the limited number of locations.
While the plot summary here is not giving anything away that isn’t in the trailer, there’s obviously slightly more to it than first meets the eye – which is, expectedly, the reason someone would choose to watch this movie in the first place. Given that information, it’s interesting that the film takes so long to reach the point that you know is coming. Then, when the story finally reveals its primary twist, the story completely changes focus and everything quickly falls apart.
It’s a real shame. For a short time I was actually quite enjoying the way things were going; with Foster’s character having to go to increasing risk in order to prove that she isn’t as delusional as she appears. If the movie could’ve continued on down this psychological route, where the audience is kept in the dark, then maybe this film would be a whole lot better. As it is, the main reason for watching this movie is also its biggest failing. Plus, to add insult to injury, there are also some horribly handled scenes (including a number involving two Arab men on the plane) which are never properly explained.
Flightplan is a film that manages to tread the line between being completely awful and intriguingly entertaining. It leans to the former, but never falls into either bracket categorically, while there’s certainly an element of each to the narrative which contains some interesting set-up in the early stages, only to ruin its good intentions later by throwing more conveniences and unlikely coincidences at a plot than I think I’ve ever seen. If you don’t expect too much, and you’ve got a good tolerance for Hollywood-licence, then it’s not all bad. If you’re the picky type on the other hand, stay well away – you’ll be tearing holes in this one.
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