And it’s probably because Panic Room was such a good movie that the expectations are high for Flightplan. Make no mistake, Jodie Foster delivers with the same intensity, if even a little too much. That’s because we’re meant to believe that her character, Kyle Pratt, isn’t really all there.
The premise is simple, but it’s strong enough to fuel the movie. Kyle and her daughter are on their way home to the States to bury Kyle’s husband. They are riding on the biggest plane designed, something that Kyle worked on and has intimate knowledge of. Struggling with grief, Kyle is a bit unstable. She falls asleep on the plane and when she wakes up her daughter’s gone. No one remembers her daughter ever being on board, and there is no record of her in the passenger manifest.
Sounds like the makings of a top-tier psychological suspense thriller. And for the most part the film does deliver. Watching Foster acting crazy on the plane is affecting, and in another actress’s hands it might have turned out absurd. But here you are taken for a ride, as you go through a range of emotions from shock to fear to damn near hysteria. The supporting cast, especially Peter Sarsgaard, are able to play off of Foster and for the most part this movie is convincing.
Sarsgaard will be remembered by indie movie fans for his role in Garden State, and to see him with his sleepy eyes taking control of a situation is weird at first, but when he hits his groove there’s a power and menace there that turn out to be chilling.
The film delivers suspense, action, and ups the heartbeat just right. But for some reason, one comes away feeling that it could have been better. It’s set on a plane, and that gives the movie a lot of room to play. Anyone who saw Red Eye knows the kind of terror that the confining space can bring. But the plane in Flightplan is like an air-bus that is pretty big and allows for more maneuverability than the expected claustrophobia.
Similarly, there are the times when the movie seems slack, as if it just lets up. Sometimes that serves as a counterpoint, sort of to give the audience a breather. But in this case, it just seems to diffuse the gravity of the situation. Probably the biggest quarrel one could have with this film is that it’s just plain not surprising enough. You expect revelations in thrillers to knock you off your feet. This one, well, leaves you in the air.
One has to commend the movie for taking big risks, for going with a premise so strong: a distraught woman’s daughter disappears mid-flight and she begins to act dangerously. It’s genius, there’s so much that could be done. Perhaps that’s why it feels like there could be more to this film. As it is, it’s a competent thriller, and if you’re going to the movies to get a thrill it will deliver. But it’s not one of those memorable movies that will give you chills when you remember it.
