* SPOILERS * Jodie Foster does her best to lift this thriller above its rather amateurish script. The plotting as all of the earmarks of a script written by a committee. The concept is promising. Kyle Pratt, an intelligent woman (a designer of jet engines) boards an ultra jumbo jet liner and her little girl disappears somewhere on the cavernous plane. Perhaps this was designed merely as a showcase of Foster's talents, but many opportunities were overlooked to make this a great thriller, on a par with, say, Harrison Ford's "The Fugitive" (1993).
For too much of the movie we're led to believe Foster's character is merely insane. This doesn't provide enough dramatic tension. It doesn't give the audience any fun of looking at clues and trying to stay one step ahead of the story. The twist comes too late and too predictably in the final 20 minutes.
The character of the villain Carson, played by Peter Sarsgaard, never seems to find his focus. One minute he's completely evil and in the next shot he's a Boy Scout. Maybe this was meant to confuse the audience, but it takes us out of the movie at times.
Sean Bean plays Captain Rich. His performance is the best in the film, but there isn't enough of him. He's a leading character but becomes a mere extra. An opportunity was missed at his exit for his character to "get a clue" of what was actually going on and take heroic action. (One wonders if he did in an earlier draft of the script, but this was cut to keep the focus on Foster's character?)
The set, a gigantic, super jumbo jet, provided a great opportunity for a grand search for the little girl. Our heroine, someone who knows this plane inside and out, should have had some "James Bond moments" to use her knowledge to her advantage. But much of this movie ends up being a talking head film rather than the action film (e.g. "Snakes On A Plane") we are expecting.
As for Foster, we are grateful she isn't dressed like a Fifth Avenue runway model, as is the cliché for most female leads (e.g. "Charlie's Angels"). Unfortunately, in Hollywood, a strong and intelligent female still has to be portrayed as emotionally unstable, bordering on insane. I kept thinking to myself, if Harrison Ford were in this role, he wouldn't be playing insane. He'd quickly grasp the conspiracy and start trying to figure out who were the good guys and who were the bad. He'd test them. Ask them subtle questions that he'd already know the answers to. (And the audience would get to play right along). He'd disappear in the plane and eavesdrop on conversations, reading lips or tapping in to the intercoms and in- flight entertainment system. He'd use things in the plane to his advantage, such as tapping into video monitoring cameras in the cargo hold.
Another missed opportunity is the little girl. For all we know, she's already dead or never existed in the first place. Hitchcock fans know that the master of thrillers always insisted that you had to show the audience the time bomb ticking under the table to have suspense. If two people are chatting and the table blows up, there's no suspense.
In sum, "Flightplan" is a mildly entertaining thriller with some great performances, but you'll be left wishing there had been more careful plotting.
For too much of the movie we're led to believe Foster's character is merely insane. This doesn't provide enough dramatic tension. It doesn't give the audience any fun of looking at clues and trying to stay one step ahead of the story. The twist comes too late and too predictably in the final 20 minutes.
The character of the villain Carson, played by Peter Sarsgaard, never seems to find his focus. One minute he's completely evil and in the next shot he's a Boy Scout. Maybe this was meant to confuse the audience, but it takes us out of the movie at times.
Sean Bean plays Captain Rich. His performance is the best in the film, but there isn't enough of him. He's a leading character but becomes a mere extra. An opportunity was missed at his exit for his character to "get a clue" of what was actually going on and take heroic action. (One wonders if he did in an earlier draft of the script, but this was cut to keep the focus on Foster's character?)
The set, a gigantic, super jumbo jet, provided a great opportunity for a grand search for the little girl. Our heroine, someone who knows this plane inside and out, should have had some "James Bond moments" to use her knowledge to her advantage. But much of this movie ends up being a talking head film rather than the action film (e.g. "Snakes On A Plane") we are expecting.
As for Foster, we are grateful she isn't dressed like a Fifth Avenue runway model, as is the cliché for most female leads (e.g. "Charlie's Angels"). Unfortunately, in Hollywood, a strong and intelligent female still has to be portrayed as emotionally unstable, bordering on insane. I kept thinking to myself, if Harrison Ford were in this role, he wouldn't be playing insane. He'd quickly grasp the conspiracy and start trying to figure out who were the good guys and who were the bad. He'd test them. Ask them subtle questions that he'd already know the answers to. (And the audience would get to play right along). He'd disappear in the plane and eavesdrop on conversations, reading lips or tapping in to the intercoms and in- flight entertainment system. He'd use things in the plane to his advantage, such as tapping into video monitoring cameras in the cargo hold.
Another missed opportunity is the little girl. For all we know, she's already dead or never existed in the first place. Hitchcock fans know that the master of thrillers always insisted that you had to show the audience the time bomb ticking under the table to have suspense. If two people are chatting and the table blows up, there's no suspense.
In sum, "Flightplan" is a mildly entertaining thriller with some great performances, but you'll be left wishing there had been more careful plotting.
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