DVD Reviews
DVD Review: Flightplan
By Patrick Luce
Jan 22, 2006, 21:14 GMT

Although it has a weak ending, Flightplan manages to keep the tension high throughout the entire film and delivers a good rollercoaster ride of a suspense movie.

The film stars Jodie Foster as a grieving mother who, along with her daughter, is taking the body of her dead husband back to the United States for burial. On board a state-of-the-art luxury passenger plane, she awakes to find her daughter missing even though the plane is already flying at 40,000 feet.

From that point, the film shifts into high gear as Foster frantically tries to find her daughter – even though the entire crew, other passengers, and the sky marshal believe the girl never even boarded the plane.

The film quickly starts building the tension as the audience is forced to try and figure out if Foster is crazy, if the girl has been kidnapped, or if any of this is going on at all. Foster continues through the film to not accept what she is being told about her daughter, but this dedication just helps sell the fact that the girl may never have been on the plane in the first place.
 
Peter Sarsgaard (who plays the marshal), Sean Bean (the plane’s captain) and the stewardesses all are excellent in their roles, and help to convince the audience that it is ok to question Foster’s sanity – even as she is screaming that something bad has happened to her daughter. The film also plays on our post 9-11fears as the passengers start to turn on each other even though there is no proof that anything has happened.

Throughout the film, Foster maintains the same type of “unconquerable” mother that she played so well in films like Panic Room. She is determined to find her daughter, refuses to accept what is happening, and is never afraid for her own safety – even at the end of the film. While she is normally great in this type of thriller, Foster’s performance in Flightplan seems more by the numbers and what you would expect from an actress of her quality in a high budget thriller.

Sarsgaard delivers a good performance as the frustrated sky marshal that is forced to deal with this crazy woman, and a plane full of panicky passengers. You believe that he truly wants to help Foster, and are totally hooked by his performance.

Foster drives the tension up in her frantic search for her daughter

At the same time, the actor seems to be hiding something, and his secret seems to be just below the surface. A lot of this is brought about simply through the actor’s facial expressions and his eyes.

Bean also does a great job as the plane captain who wants to do everything he can to help Foster, but also has to think of all the other passengers on the plane. He is pushed by the woman’s behavior and forced to make hard decisions under extreme stress. The actor shows why he can excel at any role, and helps add a lot of tension to the slowly building suspense.

As great as the tension building is, the film loses all focus once we discover what is really happening, and spins out of control by the ending – which is just too unbelievable for the payoff. It is sad because the plot you thought was happening is much better than the plot that the film eventually uses.

The movie is entertaining, but some fans may feel a big letdown once the real plot is revealed. After spending so much time building all of what we thought was happening, the actual plot is a bit on the dumb side, and the film’s ending is just too weak to support anything that we have seen. The film has several flaws in how quickly the real plot reveals itself and how everyone blindly follows along (I don’t want to say too much and give away what is really happening in the film).

The DVD comes with a couple of standard special features including two making of featurettes – “The In-Flight Movie: The Making Of Flightplan” and “Cabin Pressure: Designing The Aalto E-474,” and filmmaker audio commentary.

Bean and crew have to deal with Foster’s panic at 40,000 feet

Even with its faults, Flightplan is a fun movie that has tons of ups and downs. The film keeps you guessing about the plot in the beginning, and goes full blast once the truth is revealed. I would recommend the film to any fan of Foster or anyone looking for an entertaining movie. It might be a bit of a letdown by the ending, but the acting more than makes up for any of the film’s shortcomings.

Flightplan is available for pre-order at Amazon for a Jan. 24th release. The film is available for pre-order at AmazonUK for a March 20th release date. Visit the DVD’s database for more information.