Plan de vuelo

JUST WHERE.... to BEGIN???

...O. K.! FIRST: Let us FOCUS on the Title's Content and Context:

If you are among the millions of people who enjoy films with Jodie Foster...We have good news!.... Ms. Foster really takes off in this entertaining cinematic offering in the sky! A good deal of time has passed since we saw her in Panic Room (2002), but for my taste, this FLIGHTPLAN proves itself as an even better vehicle to showcase her talent!

The movie demonstrates similitudes to a Hitchcock thriller from the golden age of Hollywood, both in style and in its storyline development. Guaranteed to keep you in respiratory crisis almost from start to finish!

In the role of Kyle Pratt, aircraft engine engineer and mother of 6 year old Katerina, Foster shows tremendous range of nuanced emotion, in a performance that easily could have given her a fifth Oscar nomination. FLIGHTPLAN has a very smooth take-off, but does not take long to encounter serious turbulence.

Shortly after boarding an international flight, Kyle falls asleep, with her daughter alongside her. Upon waking, she discovers that Katerina, apparently, has disappeared without leaving so much as the slightest trace! Progressively, Jody Foster shows us an entire catalog of emotions. Concern and nervousness, followed sequentially by frustration; anguish and despair; then confusion and guilt; which ultimately give way to stoic resignation and unsettling doubts about her own sanity. The primary secret of FIGHTPLAN's success is that it enables the viewer to experience some of these emotions simultaneously right along with its lead character.

Unfortunately, there is one black hole in the skies of FLIGHTPLAN. It's the kind of vacuum that prevents a "good" movie from being an absolutely phenomenal one! Without flying into any spoilers by divulging anything specific as to the identity of the on board bad guy(s), I will share the following with you: The team responsible for creating FLIGHTPLAN, in an extremely odd and inexplicable decision, chose not to reveal the slightest clue as to any of the background, history, formation, training, experience, MOTIVATION (outside of the $$$), previous or present internal conflicts, mental state and developmental thought processes of the villain(s)!

This lapse is even more striking when contrasted with the background provided for protagonist Jodie Foster's character, Kyle, whose personality is meticulously constructed, with deliberation and great attention to detail. Because of this, the bad guy(s) end-up projecting a kind of "Terminator-Light" image, seemingly lifted straight out of a comic book, thusly rendering the viewer totally indifferent to their intervention or plight in the film!

The cast of FLIGHTPLAN, in general, submit solid and credible portrayals. Peter Sarsgaard, a veteran actor who has participated in numerous films, but who always has remained a bit under the radar in Hollywood, appears in a supporting role. His part is the most important one after Ms. Foster's. Sarsgaard's interpretation of a "Marshall" (a kind of national airways policeman) seems somewhat enigmatic and secretive.

Bess Wohl , who plays the daughter, Katerina , has not had much on-screen experience, but is competent in her role as an innocent child victim. As the pilot, we have Sean Bean, in a refreshing change of pace role. Most certainly recognizable owing to his turns as villain in several high profile films. He is quite convincing as the crew chief who gradually loses patience with a passenger who proves to be simply too problematic.

In 2005, few films managed to stay on top of box office for two consecutive weeks. This distinction is well-deserved in the case of FLIGHTPLAN, which was assigned a "PG -13" rating. It seems a great option for families with children over 8 or 9. For small kids, especially if they might feel anxious about it a little girl forcibly abducted from her mother, do a pre-screening!

8*...ENJOY! / DISFRUTELA

Any comments , questions or observations, in English o EN ESPAÑOL, are most welcome!

You know how angry, frustrated and anxious you get when an airline loses your luggage? Well, imagine being on a plane with your child when you awaken from a brief nap only to discover that your offspring is missing.

To compound matters further, imagine that no one remembers seeing your child on board and all passenger lists and appropriate documentation lead to a conclusion that your child never set foot in the flying tube 30,000 feet above the Atlantic.

That is the premise behind the new Jodie Foster (Nell) film Flightplan that delivers just enough thrills and spills to squeeze out a three star rating from his critic.

Reprising the claustrophobic atmosphere of her last starring vehicle, Panic Room, Foster stars as Kyle, as recent widower that decides to take her 6-year-old daughter back to America from Berlin to escape the memories surrounding her husbands tragic suicide.

However, after catching a little shuteye at the back of the plane, Kyle awakens to discover that her daughter is missing and that no one recalls ever seeing young Julia on board.

Is she crazy? Is it a conspiracy? Does Julia exist or is this all some kind of a bad dream Twilight Zone episode that will end with Patrick Duffy lathering up in a shower? The game, as we say, is afoot and Kyle, under the very watchful eye of Air Marshall Carson (Peter Sarsgaard) runs up and down the AIR E-474 jumbo jet in a frantic attempt to try and convince others that her daughter is on board and that conspirators are attempting to conceal her whereabouts for reasons unknown.

This is the second thriller set aboard a jetliner in just two months – the other being Red Eye – and Flightplan does just as good a job of instilling fear and tension aboard a vessel where mobility, options and hiding places are limited between the nose and tail of the aircraft. Flightplan does find a way to up the ante by putting us aboard a monstrous flying machine. This AALTO Air E-474 can seat as many as 800 passengers and has two stories, 7 galleys, crew quarters and a cockpit larger than my apartment. This allows the characters therefore to run up and down aisles and makes the disappearance of a small girl more believable due to the many small rooms and electrical hardware gadgetry spread out throughout the quarters.

Flightplan had just enough good points to out number the bad – but not by much. First and foremost at the front of the line was the incredible performance of Foster in the lead role. Channeling emotions evoked if she had lost her own daughter, Foster delivers a knockout performance that was as strong as any female lead in a thriller film since Sigourney Weaver strapped on the weaponry and stood up to the queen alien.

Also notable was the support staff that is each believable in their respective roles. Peter Sarsgaard continues to put in one good performance after another and everyone from Sean Bean (who finally, FINALLY makes it to the end credits of a film without being killed!) to Erika Christensen (Traffic) are provided just enough screen time to advance the story without having anyone go over the top in an attempt to steal the spotlight.

That's the good. The bad includes a bad guy who has what I call the Bond-villain syndrome whereas he feels he has to talk out loud revealing more than anyone in the same situation would for the purposes of ensuring us dumb audiences know the who's how's and what's behind the plot, and an ending that is kinda bumpy landing after such a long flight.

However, director Robert Schwentke does a good job of rising above most of the screenplay's shortfalls and delivers a Hitchcockian caper that is well worth the price of admission even if you will hardly remember most of the plot points by the time you see it on the DVD shelves early next year.

www.gregsreviews.com

I have not seen that many Jodie Foster films, but being that she is a fairly well known actress and Flightplan's premise seemed as good as any's I gave it a shot when invited to an opening showing with two friends.

What followed was a mixture between humor, failed tension, and borderline entertainment.

Flightplan derives its plot from a Hitchcock standpoint: A woman (Foster) boards a plane with her daughter, falls asleep and discovers that the little girl is missing. In a frenzy to locate her missing child she frightens both crew and passengers alike in a search that may be only in her mind.

Trouble is Flightplan never builds much excitement, leaving the audience caught between wondering the truth behind the film's mystery and not really caring but hoping things get interesting before everything is over.

Jodie Foster plays a good anxious, worried mother and I had the urge to just reach up, slap her and say "Cut that out!" A well done acting role on her part that sparks empathy and emotional responses from those watching, bravo. Now if only the other characters could have been as successful...

A few seconds into Foster's flight we are introduced to Pigeon Eyes,(Peter Sarsgaard) a shady looking character who explains himself to be an air marshal. He sports a monotonous disposition that could rival Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker impression, except when situation demands a slightly more energetic tone of voice.

The entire films manages to hold itself together without boring the viewers but not exactly showing them the time of their life either. A few predictable plot twists manage to change things up just enough to have it stand out much better than some suspense thrillers (The Interpreter with Nicole Kidman springs to mind.).

Overall, Flightplan stands as an easily forgettable and average entry in the Jodie Foster film history.

5/10

You ever have that film where you see it in the video store many years ago but have no idea what the film is? Then that very same film shows up in a bargain bin and you pick it up just based on the description on the back? Well, probably not, but that's my background of this film. To my surprise, this film is one great suspenseful ride. I love films that have you guessing right from the very beginning but never to the extent where you are disinterested. What helps with that is the unique premise and great cast. Jodie Foster brings her daughter on a plane from Berlin to New York and falls asleep, but as she wakes up, she discovers that her daughter is missing and may have never even gone on the plane. This film plays with the "unreliable narrator" technique, where you don't know if the story that is unfolding is based on the reality of the passengers or the reality inside Jodie Foster's. The answer may shock you. The best way to find that answer is to watch the film. It's a hidden gem.

"Flightplan" seems to have affected IMDb contributors like no other film in recent memory. Mostly is bad. We didn't catch up with this picture until recently. Frankly, we are puzzled as to why the hatred. Granted, the film had the potential for being better, but it's not the total failure as some of the comments in this forum will make one believe. It appears there's an agenda to mark "Flightplan" comments as not useful.

Director Robert Schwentke working with Peter Dowling and Billy Ray's screen play, hasn't added much to the film in order to make it a thriller to be reckoned with, but, in general, the film is not a total waste, as seems to be the perception among contributors.

In a way, "Flightplan" plays with the viewer's perception as to who is behind the disappearance of Julia, the six year old girl traveling with her mother, Kyle, to New York. Kyle has suffered a great tragedy in her life when her husband was found dead in her building's courtyard. The fact that Kyle hasn't been able to accept the death is clear in the first sequence when we see her sitting inside the Alexanderplaz metro station in Berlin.

Kyle, an aircraft designing engineer, is a good mother. One can imagine her panic when she wakes up from a nap to find Julia's gone. No one seems to have noticed the little girl; there is no record of she ever been on board. Kyle meets resistance from the crew of the flight. Even the sky marshal, Carson, is no help at all. What's a mother to do? If one is in Kyle's shoes, one starts taking matter into her own hands.

Jodie Foster does a good job portraying Kyle. She is a mother who doesn't take no for an answer. In fact, she is the one that unravels the mystery surrounding her daughter's disappearance. The climax sequence is perfectly set, as one would expect it to be.

Peter Sarsgaard, is Carson, the sky marshal traveling in the economy section. He is in charge of the safety of the passengers on the flight. In an unusual role for him, Mr. Sarsgaard has some good chances in the movie. Sean Bean plays the pilot of the jumbo jet. Kate Beahan is seen as one of the flight attendants. Erika Christiensen is also part of the crew.

The best way to enjoy the film is not to compare it to anything else and just go for the entertaining value in it because we know this is not a ground breaking film, but thanks to Mr. Schwentke and his cast, it offers us a bumpy ride of a film.