Susan Granger’s review of “Flightplan” (Touchstone Pictures)
The take-off’s terrific in this suspense thriller, but then the cinematic ride becomes too bumpy to be believable, culminating in a chaotic conclusion that collapses. Is it really worth the trip?
Aeronautical engineer Kyle Pratt (Jodie Foster) is a grieving widow returning home from Berlin to New York with her husband’s coffin and her six year-old daughter Julia (Marlene Lawston), who mysteriously disappears from the seat beside her. The flight attendants (Erika Christensen, Kate Beahan) are polite but don’t remember ever seeing the child, and when Kyle frantically insists on alerting the Captain (Sean Bean), an Air Marshal (Peter Sarsgaard) is summoned. Kyle’s panic and paranoia grows as she realizes Julie’s name isn’t on the manifest. There’s no record of Julia’s being on-board. Is this a demented conspiracy or is she going insane?
Writers Peter A. Dowling and Billy Ray, along with German-born director Robert Schwentke, focus on a primal parental fear, coupled with an agitation that’s inherent in the multicultural environment of today’s security-sensitive international travel. Cinematographer Florian Balhaus, production designer Alexander Hammond and editor Thom Noble augment the claustrophobia, delving into the creepy nooks and crannies of the huge, state-of-the-art airliner, making it into an airborne “Panic Room,” in which Jodie Foster did the same ferociously distressed/distraught bit. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the turbulent plot twists are ridiculously implausible, even at 37,000 feet, and the cramped dialogue is ludicrous, even if the clever concept can be traced back to Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Lady Vanishes.” On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Flightplan” is a queasy, anxiety-driven yet forgettable 5. Frankly, I’d advise grounding it.
