NEW IN THEATERS: Flightplan

FLIGHTPLAN (2005)

My Rating: *** (out of *****)

Starring: Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Sean Bean, Greta Scacchi, Erika Christensen
Director: Robert Schwentke

My Review:

Not a tremendous film, and not a dud, Flightplan surfaces as a nifty little thriller that will divert those looking for some relatively undemanding escapist fare.

Jodie Foster is, of course, solidly convincing as Kyle Pratt, a grieving propulsion engineer who has just lost her husband in a tragic accident. She is returning from Berlin to the U.S. to bury him (on a huge double-decker plane that she helped design, no less) with her 6-year-old daughter Julia (an effective Marlene Hawston), when suddenly, the child disappears. Worse yet, no one seems to have seen the little girl get on the aircraft. The plane's passenger manifest doesn't even list her as being on board. Kyle's distress turns to panic, then to terror, and finally to fierce, dogged determination to find her daughter, whatever the costs.

First off, there is very little that's new here. Initially, I feared something too much like Julianne Moore's recent Mom-with-a-lost-kid-and-everyone-thinks-she's-crazy thriller The Forgotten. As with Moore's film, Flightplan tries at first to make you think that the lead character is crazy, but does a much more convincing job of it. Consider also, the truncated running time and ominous James Horner score. While these and other similarities are present, Flightplan follows a different path in that it remains firmly terrestrial in its explanation of the mysterious goings on. Sorry, X-Files fans, but there are no alien experients to be found here. Alas, once revealed, the plot twists are fairly unspectacular (as is the final third, which plays out as a run-of-the-mill action flick with a villain who talks too much).

Though the climactic moments are somewhat ho-hum, the journey to them is quite enjoyable. Schwentke's direction is crisp, the pacing brisk, and there are some nice suspenseful moments when we feel a genuine sense of "How's she gonna get out of this one?" While the screenplay's answers to that question aren't always convincing, the story as a whole maintains interest and works due to shrewd casting. The performances, though not particularly outstanding, are spot-on. And, as mentioned, Foster is the exception, diverting our attention from the sometimes hokey, tired plot machinations and inconsistencies that exist with her utterly convincing passion and commitment to emotional honesty.

More classy than Red Eye, though maybe not quite as much fun, Flightplan offers just the ticket (sorry, I couldn't resist the cheesy movie-reviewer pun here) for moviegoers in search of a well-acted, fairly exciting, basically standard action thriller.

PG-13, for action violence, emotional intensity, thematic elements, and some language