I remember seeing the great Hitchcock picture "Lifeboat" when I was a kid and the thing that stuck in my mind was that I was TOTALLY entertained for two hours by a story that took place in a small boat. The story, the acting, the suspense and the creative use of the camera made me forget the close confines of the lifeboat and enjoy the picture for what it was, superb film-making. "Flightplan" is another fine example which proves that you don't need multiple locations to make a story great and hold the attention of the audience. Kyle (Jody Foster) is an airline design engineer who is bringing her dead husband's body home from Berlin to Long Island to be buried after an accidental fall from the building they lived in. She and their daughter, Julia (Marlene Lawston) are bringing him home on a super airliner (huge) that was partially designed by Kyle. A few hours into the flight Kyle awakes to find Julia not in her seat. As she begins a search for her (I mean, on an airplane, WHERE can she go?), she learns that nobody remembers seeing the girl board the plane. Passengers, flight attendants, pilots, nobody! Add to that the fact that there is no record of the little girl checking in for the flight and you have an already distraught and grieving mother questioning her own sanity. As she intensifies her search the other passengers become upset and the captain (Sean Bean) is called. When things escalate even further she is finally, forcefully restrained by an air marshall who handcuffs her in her seat and THAT'S where the story begins! Flightplan is one of those good-ole good suspense pictures that keeps your weight on the front edge of the seat. It has your mind working at a fever pitch to figure out what's going on and why. THAT is good writing (Peter A. Dowling and Billy Ray) and directing (Robert Schwentke)! Very few will figure this one out before the truth is revealed. I didn't and I feel no shame. Good picture! RECOMMENDATION: No sex, no exploitive violence and no bad language. Boring? NOT in the least! Go see it and let me know IF you figure it out! You won't. Rated PG 13 for some violence and a whole lotta intensity! TWO HIGH FLYIN', HITCHCOCKESS THUMBS UP! (At 34,000 feet) Movie Review © 2005 by Terry Anderson |
