Undescribable Perfection

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Flightplan (2005): Dir: Robert Schwentke / Cast: Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Sean Bean, Erika Christensen, Kate Beahan: Energetic yet standard thriller about stress as Jodie Foster boards her daughter onto a plane that carries 400 passengers. Her husband was killed in what appeared to be a suicide and now she and her daughter are transporting the casket. Central plot regards Foster's daughter going missing and her frantic search to find her. The captain and crew passengers are growing frustrated with Foster's demands and the passengers applaud when she is brought to her seat and detained by a law official. Screenplay is fast paced if not familiar and routine but what director Robert Schwentke does do is go inside Foster's mind. Foster is dynamite as expected causing paranoia within a search that is much broader than at first seems. What really brings this plane down in flames and reduces the screenplay to routine formula is the bland and pathetic supporting roles. Peter Sarsgaard as the officer is exactly what we expect and it seems to go without saying that certain actors struggle to access our trust. Sean Bean as the captain, and Erika Christensen as a stewardess are total cardboard. Jodie Foster holds the film together better than the screenwriter does. Theme of emotional duress accompanies the bond between mother and child that is best not broken. Score: 6 ½ / 10

Kyle: "Have you seen my daughter?" Captain Rich: "Um... miss. You came on board, with only yourself."The story is about a woman and her child are flying back from Berlin when her daughter suddenly disappears and no one even remembers seeing her aboard the plane. I got to say that this whole film feels like a Alfred Hitchcock movie. With it's suspense and Mystery, just like a Hitchcock. film. I mean if Alfred Hitchcock was still alive today, he might have directed his movie. Would he have done it better?, yes because we are talking about the master of suspense. Jodie Foster was just pure excellent in this role as the scared mother who will do anything to get her daughter back no matter what, and she did a fantastic job at it. The directing in this movie I thought was pretty well done. Through out this movie it had that dark, cold tone that worked for a movie like this. It worked in this movie because children today are going still missing and sometimes I will read the paper and read the latest news about these horrible, cold and gritty stories about children going missing and being found dead, and this movie cough that feeling that I have when something like this happens. My only nick picks with the movie was the ending to the film. I'm not going to give away the ending, but what I can say is the movie turned into a cliché action film towards they end; losing all the suspense for me. But overall Flightplan is a great suspenseful movie with excellent acting and the movie is unpredictable.

This is a good performance by Foster and a credible performance by Sarsgaard and Bean. But sadly, their efforts are wasted on a bad executed idea. The idea itself is good, but it's simply difficult to make a 90-minute movie on an airplane. This is a really long 30-minute movie. Despite that, it is still enjoyable to watch Foster play her part extremely well. What could have been done differently? Well, some of the things leading up to the flight should have been included. The flight is the climax of the movie, no doubt - but we don't have much of a chance to identify with the characters because there is so little development. It's like a one-act play where we don't really expect the characters to change much.

Kyle Pratt (Jodie Foster) is an aviation engineer. Her husband dies in Berlin falling off a building. Then she's going back to New York with his casket and her daughter on a plane she helped designed. After falling asleep, she finds her daughter missing. The crew searches frantically, but eventually doubts arises, and she's seen as delusional.There is a good element of Hitchcockian mystery, and psychological thriller. For the first half, the movie is building up to a great mystery. Director Robert Schwentke creates a moody atmosphere, but it all falls apart as the truth is revealed. It turns into an action movie, but the convoluted explanation is a wrench in the whole machinery.