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.

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.

What stinker this was, this movie blew, but Lacey is hot.

This is a slightly comical airplane thriller. It's both deliberately and inadvertently funny almost laugh out loud so. Lacey Chabert stars as a publishing assistant in charge of a controversial manuscript. When bringing it with her on a flight to Europe she encounters some strange events and things and people go missing. Lacey is quite a good actress she just has to modulate her voice not to sound too silly.

The head stewardess is hilarious. Things are quite neatly done as you can expect. Worth one watch. Not bad for a lightweight lifetime thriller. This movie has the same name as the subsequent Liam Neeson big budget thriller that came out last year.

I really liked this movie. It was put together well enough for me. It had enough variety in it that it was not overdone; it was very different from other movies I've seen.

All the characters added a lot of mystery for me so I didn't feel their acting was terrible.

I didn't know what would happen next.

The ending added to the attraction for me.

It was not depressing and foreboding like some movies I've seen. I'm not sure why it has so many poor reviews. Maybe it was too cheesy for others, but not for me.

I don't review many movies at all, nor other things I buy; but I enjoyed this so much, I wanted to review it.