Flightplan

(Touchstone Pictures/BVI)
Stars Jodie Foster, Sean Bean, Peter Saarsgard, Kate Beahan and Erika Christensen
Directed by Robert Schwentke

Woohoo! Jodie Foster is working again. What seemed like a life time ago since Panic Room, Foster has decided to grace our screens once again. Flightplan could be described as Panic Room 2 or a remake of last year’s clunky thriller, The Forgotten. While this is a good film (& pay day) for Foster, it seems like everyone else who worked on this film is a complete idiot and therefore treats the audience like an idiot.

Jodie Foster plays a grieving wife, Kyle Pratt, who has just lost her husband. She decides to go back home to America, from Berlin with her disturbing daughter Julia, to bury the body. After take off, Kyle dozes off in the back row. When she awakes, her daughter is mysteriously missing. What makes it worse is that the crew and the passengers never saw Julia on the plane in the first place. Is Julia alive? Has a pedophile got her? Did the Middle Eastern passenger kidnap her? Is Kyle delusional? Why is the crew acting weird?

If you think plot holes are a pretentious tool for critics to slag off a movie, Flightplan will change your mind. Foster says she was drawn to the role because it’s about a mother’s love for her daughter. Who are you kidding Jodie? Reese Witherspoon was originally attached and the film was originally written for a male actor. Not only that, but once the twist is revealed it seems like she has been taken down with it. Add to that, 420 retarded extras. Surely that $20m cheque was more enticing. But you have to hand it to Jodie; she is able to rise above the situation and given this film some sort of grounding. Because it seems everyone around her are bunches or morons. Peter Saarsgard should be lucky he still finds work in Hollywood, even he must no that. Sean Bean is a piece of wood. Erika Christensen should also be lucky. Aussie up-and-comer Kate Beahan is given an inept character more designed for daytime television. Hopefully her character in Sarah Michelle Gellar’s latest supernatural thriller, The Return, isn’t marred by a retarded screenwriter. Looking For Alibrandi star, Greta Scacchi, pops her head in to remind Kyle she isn’t a nut case, but ultimately her character is just a time-filler.

I cannot stress how important Foster is to this lazy film. I mean for the first 70 minutes, she had me entertained. But from then on it’s like watching Osama Bin Laden claim he’s Chinese. A lot of the problems are due from the duo Peter A. Dowling and Billy Ray’s script. Seriously, there are some quite awful attempts at humour, it has to be seen to be believed. Robert Schwentke’s direction is also very inconsistent. Ultimately, it’s best to view Flightplan with an open mind because at least you will arrive at your destination without too many complaints.

out of ten

Reviewed by Dino White

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