"Flightplan is well worth seeing for the first 45 minutes to an hour, but unfortunately the third act goes down in flames."
Staci Layne Wilson FANTASTICA DAILY
"See Jodie worry! See Jodie run! And please don't ask why we don't tranquilize her for the safety of other passengers."
Phil Villarreal ARIZONA DAILY STAR
"Fantastic job setting up a very eerie, frightening and confusing story ... but the ending falls short of our greatest hopes."
Willie Waffle WAFFLEMOVIES.COM
"Final moments are filled with twists, many of which stretch plausibility, but the blessed thing wraps up in a taut 88 minutes."
Philip Wuntch DALLAS MORNING NEWS
"The movie’s concept is cool, the execution is taut and filled with suspense, but the resolution is badly flawed."
Joshua Tyler CINEMABLEND.COM
"This airborne Jodie Foster thriller pretty much runs on autopilot and lands somewhere between not bad and not great."
James Rocchi NETFLIX
"A first-rate thriller before it crashes and burns in the final act...The solution to the mystery is a real groaner and a politically correct cop out."
Chuck O'Leary FANTASTICA DAILY
"Not worth the trip."
Claudia Puig USA TODAY
"Flightplan has holes and blank spots you could steer an airbus through."
Tom Long DETROIT NEWS
"Flightplan maintains emotional altitude until it starts hitting the turbulence of unbelievable coincidence."
Terry Lawson DETROIT FREE PRESS
The Inside Story
I'm sure that after seeing Jodie Foster's latest film "Flightplan", most cinemagoers will quickly come to the conclussion that despite the films promising start and its 'Hitchcockian' styling "Flightplan" eventually goes into a fatal spin from which there is, like a real life airliner, no chance of survival. Though the story of "Flightplan" was developed long before the events of September 11th 2001, the screenplay took on an increased relevance in its aftermath - reflecting a new era of international travel filled with uncertainty and palpable awareness of one's fellow passengers, as well as intensified feelings of protectiveness among parents. The film's story was never one about terrorism, but in the wake of September 11, its themes of paranoia and shifting perception of strangers came even more to the fore. It was the script's mix of human emotions, ethical dilemmas and edge of your seat thrills that garnered the attention of Academy Award®-winning producer Brian Grazer. Known for a diverse taste in material that has brought him from the gritty 8 Mile to the award-winning A Beautiful Mind, Grazer felt that this complex, high-intensity thriller would be an intriguing addition to Imagine's dynamic slate of feature films. "The feeling of "Flightplan was that of a Hitchcockian mystery taking place entirely in the sealed world of a modern jet airliner," says Grazer. Screenwriter Peter A Dowling came up with the original story from a simple idea, "the sudden, inexplicable disappearance of a loved one." It led to a first draft script which homed in on "A parent on a plane at cruising altitude has their child suddenly vanish and nobody admits to ever seeing her onboard. That idea was just the start of things because I realized that from there you could go in so many different directions," Dowling explained. "It could be a supernatural story. It could be an alien abduction. It could involve hallucinations or fantasy. Or, it could be a very realistic thriller. That was the direction (and the challenge) that really interested me because I’ve always been intrigued by very tightly plotted suspense movies, especially ones that take place in a confined location. At the same time, I thought this could also be a very emotional journey in which a parent faces a harrowing personal crisis." Dowling's initial script made its way to Imagine Entertainment's James Whitaker but soon caught the eye of acclaimed Producer Brian Grazer who made two suggestions. The first was to change the male lead to female and that Jodie Foster was the ideal actress to cast for the role. "For a thriller like this, there is no one better than Jodie Foster," Academy Award®-winning producer Grazer notes. "She is someone who engenders empathy, who you really care about, someone you can believe as a mother yet who also can demonstrate a tremendous amount of strength and power when she’s put to the test." After her recent performance as Meg Altman in "Panic Room" no-one would doubt that statement. Foster's star power shone from an early age when she became the only American actress to win two seperate BAFTA Awards in the same year ["Taxi Driver" and "Bugsy Malone"]. This is a tailor made role for Foster who is the central focus at all times. Screenwriter Billy Ray, brought in by Grazer to "further develop the story for Foster" agrees. "To me, "Flightplan" is very much about dread and it’s all seen through the eyes of Kyle Pratt, of Jodie Foster, as this very smart yet possibly unstable widow who you just don’t know if you can trust or not," Billy Ray explains. "I knew that Jodie would bring lots of intelligence to the movie and, as we wrote the story around her character, she kept pushing us and challenging us to make the film smarter and tighter."
As a mother of two, Foster felt a strong affinity for "Flightplan" from the minute she heard about the story from Brian Grazer. "What really moved me about "Flightplan" was the idea of a woman who has lost her child and yet suddenly is forced to question her sanity because there's so much grief inside her that she has to wonder if she's going insane," says Foster. "Meanwhile, she's in this strange sort of international world of an airplane where people are naturally suspicious of one another, so the situation has tremendous tension and pressure to it." Although he was intrigued by the role of Gene Carson, Peter Sarsgaard worried at first that he wasn't physically intimidating enough to play an air marshal, only to learn that one of the main qualities of an air marshal is the ability to blend into their surroundings and not stand out. He also realized that air marshals are being so heavily recruited that they come from all walks of life. After being cast, he met with several real-life air marshals to get a better sense of the rapidly burgeoning job. "What I learned is that an air marshal wants to be very discreet and yet have a sense of overwhelming authority at the same time," Sarsgaard explained. "It's quite fascinating work and they tend to take the most interesting flights: high-risk flights on the biggest planes with lots of different kinds of passengers." Sarsgaard ("Kinsey")was also excited to work so closely with Jodie Foster. "She has amazing enthusiasm and passion. It's wonderful to act with someone who is so engaged and cares so much about every little detail of every scene even though she has already had so much success in her career." Now the production team needed to find a Director. Grazer and executive producers Charles J D Schlissel and Robert DiNozzi chose a young German 'indie film' director named Robert Schwentke, acclaimed for his daring and original films "Tattoo" [winner of the International Fantasy Film Award at Fantosporto, and the Grand Prize European Fantasy Film Award at the Sweden Fantastic Film Festival] and "The Family Jewels" [winnner of the Audience Award at the Biberach Film Festival and the Best Drama and Best Overall Awards at the Deep Ellum Festival in 2003]. "Robert is a brilliant young director who is one of the most visually innovative and meticulous people I have worked with," says Schlissel. "He sees the world in a different way, has a painstaking eye for detail, and is a lovely human being. He was especially integral in giving the story its emotional anchor." While there is a fair bit of "emotional anchor" the final act in the play is a complete u-turn, stretching credibility to snapping point and destroying everything that has gone before it. It will puzzle many who see "Flightplan" that what starts out as a fairly decent psychological thriller, holds our attention and keeps us guessing, should 'go off the rails' and derail itself. The obvious question is how did they do it? The probable answer is, perhaps too many ended up having a say in the production and it all got a little too cute, a little too smart for its own good. "This story was an opportunity for me to make a puzzle movie full of twists and turns that is also extremely emotional", Schwentke says. "I liked the idea of a movie that largely unfolds in a single contained environment. We decided against cutting to the control tower or to any characters on the ground. Everything stays within the claustrophobic space of the plane, trapping the audience at 37,000 feet along with the characters, leaving them both struggling to solve the mystery." And there-in lies the answer. "Flightplan" proceeds well while cruising at 37,000 feet but the closer it gets to the ground the more it falls apart.
Cast & Crew Bytes
"FLIGHTPLAN" was .......
directed by Fantasy Film Award winner Robert Schwentke ["Heaven!", "Tattoo" and "The Family Jewels"]; screenplay by Peter A Dowling ["Flightplan"] and Billy Ray ["Color Of Night", "Volcano", "Hart's War" and "Shattered Glass"]; cinematography by Florian Ballhaus ["The Ride Home", "Investigating Sex", "The Secret Lives OF Dentists" and "The Family Jewels"]; original music by two time Academy Award ® winner; two time Golden Globe ® Award winner & six times Grammy Award winner James Horner ["Windtalkers", "Love Actually", "The Missing" and "The Legend of Zorro"] produced by Academy Award ® winner Brian Grazer ["How The Grinch Stole Christmas", "The Missing", "Friday Night Lights", "Inside Deep Throat" and "Cinderella Man"].
"FLIGHTPLAN" stars .......
two time Academy Award ® winner; BAFTA Award, New York Film Critics, Chicago Film Critics, National Society of Film Critics and the Los Angeles Film Critics Awards winner Jodie Foster ["The Silence Of The Lambs", "Little Man Tate", "Maverick", "Contact" and "Panic Room"]; Boston, San Francisco, St. Louis, Toronto and National Society of Film Critics Award winner Peter Sarsgaard ["Another Day in Paradise", "Shattered Glass", "Garden State", "Kinsey" and "The Skeleton Key"]; Sean Bean ["Lord Of The Rings I, II & III", "Troy", "National Treasure" and "The Island"]; Michael Irby ["Silent Prey", "Mourning Glory", "The Last Castle" and "Once Upon A Wedding"]; Assaf Cohen ["A Moment of Grace" and "West Bank Story"]; Erika Christensen ["Leave It to Beaver", "Traffic", "Swimfan" and "The Upside of Anger"]; Shane Edelman ["Looking for Lola", "See Jane Run", "Catch Me If You Can" and "Shopgirl"]; Haley Ramm ["Slap Her... She's French", "A Four Course Meal", "Yours, Mine and Ours" and "Rumor Has It"] and Kate Beahan ["Strange Planet", "Chopper", "The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course" and "The Matrix Revolutions"] as Stephanie.
What It's All About
Grieving Kyle Pratt and her daughter are travelling back to the USA after the tragic death of her husband. Her daughter Julia has been terribly traumatized by the loss of her father and Kyle, like any good mother is trying to ensure her child understands she will always be there for her. The flight Kyle will take from Berlin to New York is on a new state of the art aircraft which Kyle has helped design. Settling down for the long haul Kyle and Julia fall asleep. When Kyle awakes, her daughter is not in her seat. Frantic, she searches for her. Strangely, no-one remembers seeing the child. The crew, at the order of the planes Captain rechecks the boarding list and do a head count. All are accounted for. At Kyle's insistence the Captain now orders the crew to enter the bowels of the giant airliner and check the hold areas. Once again they come up empty. Then a message comes from the Funeral Parlour in Berlin. It verifies the Capatain and crews fears. Both her husband Peter and her daughter are dead. How can that be? Why won't they believe her? Taking things into her own hands Kyle breaks away from Air Marshall Gene Carson and using her knowlege of the aircrafts layout, gains access through a hatch to one of the control panels. She wants the plane on the ground and she's prepared to risk everything to find her daughter.
The Verdict
"You've most probably noticed Jodie Foster doesn't make many films these days. Be grateful she doesn't because roles like this one are a 'bummer'. "Flightplan" starts out well with Foster playing the loving mother as she did in "Panic Room" but what could have been an excellent mystery drama, turns messy as the plot becomes inconceivably stupid, totally unbeliveable and telegraphs too many punches. Never the less "Flightplan" should do well at the box-office purely because of Jodie Foster's pulling power. A good diversion but hard to really recommend."
The Cast
Jodie Foster
Peter Sarsgaard
Sean Bean
Kate Beahan
Michael Irby
Assaf Cohen
Erika Christensen
Shane Edelman
Mary Gallagher
Haley Ramm
Forrest Landis
Jana Kolesarova
Brent Sexton
Marlene Lawston
Judith Scott
Victoria Spark
John Benjamin Hickey
Matthew Bomer
Gavin Grazer
Christopher Gartin
Neil Patil
Bess Wohl
Kirk B.R. Woller
Stephanie Faracy
Christian Berkel
Cooper Thornton
Amanda Brooks
Greta Scacchi
Dirk Vahle
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Kyle
Carson
Captain Rich
Stephanie
Obaid
Ahmed
Fiona
Mr Loud
Mrs Loud
Brittany Loud
Rhett Loud
Claudia
Elias
Julia
Estella
Victoria
David
Eric
FBI Agent
Mike
Angry Passenger
Katerina
Grunick
Anna
Mortuary Director
West
Irene
Therapist
Helicopter Pilot
The Crew
Directed by Robert Schwentke
Written by Peter A Dowling and Billy Ray
Produced by Brian Grazer
Original Music by James Horner
Cinematography by Florian Ballhaus
Film Editing by Thom Noble
Casting by Deborah Aquila/Mary Tricia Wood/Tricia Woods
Production Design by Alec Hammond
Art Direction by Kevin Ishioka & Sebastian T Krawinkel
Set Decoration by Simon-Julien Boucherie & Kathy Lucas
Costume Design by Susan Lyall
Run Time 98 minutes
Rated M [AUST]
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