Flightplan (2005)

[ZapRowsdower]

Flightplan
Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Sean Bean, Erika Christensen
Screenplay by Peter A. Dowling and Billy Ray
Directed by Robert Schwentke

These days it seems we have to savor a movie with Jodie Foster in it, because it doesn't happen often. That is unfortunate, because she's one of the most gifted actresses of our time. Even her performance as a teenage prostitute back in 1976 was worthy of acclaim. Then she brought to life the character of Clarice Starling back in 1991, which sealed her fate and mailed it with a kiss -- If someone's making a list of the best actresses of all time, Miss Foster is somewhere in the top five. So if you were to ask me to give you one good reason why Flightplan was a good movie, I have only two words to say: Jodie Foster.

She may not have been putting her talent to use these last few years, but she still has it. That's why sitting down in the theater, watching her deliver her lines... that alone was enough to keep me at the edge of my seat. And as if using the talents of Miss Foster were not enough, the brilliant casting director backed her up with a strong supporting cast. Peter Sarsgaard managed to stay below the radar, but with his talent I don't think that's gonna last very long.

The film lost points in the area of direction and visuals. There were a couple of scenes that were too stylish for their own good. For instance, there's a scene where a plane touches down on a runway, and it is shot at a 90 degree angle. I can appreciate the concept of expressionism, but that's overdoing it. As for the visuals, they looked to me like a rush job. You can tell they were done with a computer.

What I don't get, however, is why the critics are complaining about the ending. I didn't see any problems with it, or the "politically correct cop-out" the critics were complaining about (here's a hint: there WAS no cop-out). I was actually surprised by it... and I liked it. It was a well-written ending -- not necessarily an ending to talk about, but it was nicely done.

Aside from its flaws in visual effects and direction, Flightplan manages to be an exciting thriller thanks to a strong cast and a great screenplay. Not only does it receive my seal of approval, but it comes highly recommended. It's just so great to see Jodie Foster on the big screen again. I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking she's one of the greatest.

Scorecard:

Premise
A woman wakes up on an airplane to find her daughter missing, and begins to realize things aren't as they seem.
10

Performers
Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Sean Bean, Erika Christensen, et al
10

Screenwriters
Peter A. Dowling and Billy Ray
10

Director
Robert Schwentke
8

Visual Effects
5

Final Score: 86%
B

[Quorthon]

You should review movies for a newspaper or something, man. That's some good writing.

[Fenril]

This is indeed a pretty good review.

That said, I personally didn't much like Flightplan... the premise is intriguing, until you realize it's basically a remake of "The lady vanishes", this time set in an airplane. And while I agree that Mrs. Foster is one of the greatest actressess working nowadays, here it felt like she was trying to re-do the same character as in "The panic room" (wich I liked a lot, had much more suspense than this one).

The ending didn't seem like a cop-out to me, just incredibly contrived. And the other passenger's comments IMHO became annoying after a while. They were almost acting like a (retarded) greek chorus.

On the plus side, Germany and a huge plane are both terrific settings for this kind of thriller, but I felt they could have been milked a little more. Say, like the way Prague is used in "Short night of the glass dolls", or a boat in "Lifeboat", or Russia in "Mute witness", or... well, you get the idea. Use a setting that exhudes menace, and work it in with the story.

So in sort, I found this to be a complete ho-hum thriller, notable solely for Jodie's presence.

But it is a lot better than Red Eye, I'll admit that...

[Bartwald]

fenril said:

...But it is a lot better than Red Eye, I'll admit that...

Ah there you go: somebody DIDN'T like Red Eye, after all! Please vote and have your say here, Fenril >>> bartboard.proboards3.com/index.cgi?board=chest&action=display&n=1&thread=641

[Fenril]

Thanks for the invitation Bart... but to be honest, Red Eye is the kind of movie I didn't really find interesting enough to even discuss. I mean, I didn't really hate it, just found it to be a rather "meh" film.

Flightplan I only ranted about it because I was very exited to watch a new Jodie Foster movie and was dissapointed when I found it to be so boring.