Détresse en plein ciel

What a bizarre little movie. Lacey Chabert plays a recently-jilted woman on a transatlantic flight full of weirdos. The airline has a logo very similar to that of Aerosmith, which amused me. There's a mystery about a disappearing passenger she made out with after knowing for five minutes as well as a plot about a brotherhood of terrorists...or something like that.

The quality of the acting varies. Some I'm sure were intentionally eccentric (Betsy Russell, Veronica Cartwright). Others not so sure (Bo Svenson, Will Kemp). Then there's the outright terrible (Drew Seeley, David Lipper). Chabert does fine and portrays her character as a little emotionally unstable which actually adds an extra layer of interesting to the proceedings. There's a sense of disquiet about it all early on and this is in large part due to her character being so...off. About midway through it becomes a slightly more traditional Turbulence or Flight Plan type of air thriller. But the moments of weird never go away, as the bizarre supporting cast keeps popping up like hiccups in the plot. Just as Chabert is investigating her little mystery on board the plane, here comes Betsy Russell telling her to sit down for the millionth time or some random other guy I don't know the name of who seemed to only be in the movie so he could be a momentary red herring. Chabert even refers to him as "that guy" so I'm not sure what the heck his character's name is.

It's a movie filled with offbeat characters. A crazy bearded guy who seems obsessed with Lacey at the airport only to disappear from the movie altogether, a rude stewardess with a drinking problem, a boyish steward fresh out of acting school who never seems to blink, a kooky old lady who claims she's an empath, a little blonde girl and her Hispanic nanny, a fat guy who doesn't want anybody sitting next to him, a supposed Interpol agent, and a mysterious Brit who seduces our heroine with ease. "Heroes" fans might enjoy seeing Ando (James Kyson) playing an airline employee who doesn't seem to know the meaning of personal space.

The confrontation where Chabert learns the truth behind the mystery is risibly directed -- with the camera zooming in & out, jerking all around while the bad guy does all of his acting with his eyebrows. A character chases another in slow speed and inexplicably trips over a shoe with unintentionally comical results. Just when you think it's all over, look out -- there's a hilariously cheesy cat and busty mouse sequence where Lacey fulfills her cleavage quota that, if not already in her contract, should always be.

I want to give them credit for making a weird movie but I'm not sure how much of it was intentional. There are moments where it seems like certain actors are winging it. Other moments where the director lingers on certain scenes like he forgot to yell cut. The hardest part in reviewing this movie is trying to figure out if the movie's oddness is intended or a byproduct of a poorly made film. At least it's like nothing else you'll see from Lifetime or LMN or whatever. If you have the patience it's definitely worth checking out and deciding for yourself.

This has soap opera style acting and production design - with a real quirky, hammy vibe... But I had to watch the whole thing. The mystery just got to me, and the story unfolded in a intriguing way. A lot of the characters don't act like real people which kind adds to the off kilter doubt-your-own-sanity plotline. Cheesy and weird but a strangely fun watch

I'm embarrassed that i'm watching this piece of dreck. There are not a lot of choices for good TV during the holidays. but that is not an excuse. it is simply so extraordinarily bad that i can't turn away. i will not reveal any spoilers because i won't make it through the whole thing. but suffice it to say that Lacey Chabert's character -- is there a more boring actress on the face of the earth? -- boards a plane and immediately creepy things start to happen. they have already been happening but it escalates in the air.

but it's the things that aren't deliberately eery that bugged the crap out of me. this woman keeps wandering around the plane for various reasons, leaving her purse behind somewhere. she works on her laptop and then leaves that sitting there to wander around some more. she takes medication that a stranger insists she take. she lets the bitchy alcoholic flight attendant toss her smartphone in to the overhead bin without retrieving it later. all the commonsense things that a regular traveler would be careful about???? this complete idiot just ignores.

and of course she has helped a creepy man write a book about fascism and there have been threats against her and him but she still leaves her laptop unattended for anyone who might be plotting against her to pick up and do with it what he/she will.

it bugs the crap out of me for a story to be about fascism and treat the whole subject so lightly and stupidly. so i am going to stop watching this travesty. i just had to vent because i was hoping that it would just be not good while it is completely and utterly hopelessly terrible.

lady, go get your purse and your phone and your laptop and sit the freak down instead of walking around being a ridiculous victim.

Lacey Chabert does her best with a terrible script, but nothing can save this movie. Terrible editing, weird directing, wooden acting by many of the other actors and a completely ridiculous plot. The only reason it doesn't get a one is because Ms. Chabert is actually quite good for much of the movie.

Ms. Chabert, who is always likable on screen, makes it almost worth watching, but unfortunately, by the finale of the movie, even that's not enough. Without spoiling anything, the last twenty minutes or so of the movie are beyond bad - the movie enters crazytown - first there's a scene with the oddest cinematography, followed by a series of ridiculous plot points, followed by an ending that doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

It would be nice to see Ms. Chabert in something with a decent plot and a solid ensemble.

FIRST CLASS FEAR is a ridiculous plane-based thriller that feels like one of those TV 'movies of the week'. It sees a bumbling heroine drawn into a ridiculous plot on board a Transatlantic flight and suffering from the usual problems, namely a lack of evidence and disbelief on the part of everybody else. The only way I could sit through this was to treat it as an unintentional comedy, because the plot is so very, very silly.

Lead actress Lacey Chabert once found fame of sorts in MEAN GIRLS but nowadays is content to while away her days making TV movies. This film vaguely resembles the equally poor Jodie Foster film FLIGHTPLAN although it has an ending stolen from RED EYE. Supporting cast members include SAW's Betsy Russell and old timers Bo Svenson and Veronica Cartwright. The acting is wooden across the board (particularly in Russell's case) and the eventual solving of the mystery turns the whole thing into a laughing stock.