Sunday, September 25, 2005

Flightplan

First Red Eye, now Flightplan. I never knew flying could be so terrifying. Jodie Foster (Panic Room) returns to the silver screen as Kyle Pratt, lending her considerable talent to the story of a mother who loses a child on a flight from Berlin to NY. Suspenseful and harrowing, Flightplan was a satisfying movie experience. I see that this movie has been criticized by some...but I was sucked in from the beginning, due in large part to the fascinating premise. The audience can't help but be entranced from the start, because quite honestly, how in the hell can a woman lose her daughter on a plane? Where could she possibly be, and how come no other passenger remembers seeing her? Finding the answer to these seemingly simple questions is the driving force behind the movie, and it works. Like most flicks, Flightplan is not without its flaws. Namely, it makes NO sense that no other passengers remember seeing the kid, including two annoyingly nosey brats who are seated right in front of Kyle and her daughter. The other problem: a couple of red herrings. I know the director/screenwriter or whoever has to keep the audience guessing until near the end -- but spare me the cheap tricks please.

The aforementioned drawbacks are easy to accept when you have Jodie Foster and Peter Sarsgaard (The Skeleton Key) as part of the cast. Despite what you may have heard, Flightplan is hella good.

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