Flightplan

Synopsis: Recently-widowed aviation engineer, Kyle Pratt (Jodie Foster), is flying from Berlin to New York with her six year old daughter Julia (Marlene Lawston) and the body of her dead husband for burial. Three hours into the flight she finds Julia has disappeared. No-one seems to have even seen the child on the plane, and to add to Kyle's distress, she is told that the kid is not even listed on the passenger manifest. As she becomes more hysterical, Kyle is taken into the charge of Air Marshall Carson (Peter Sarsgaard). Is there some sort of lurking conspiracy, or has Kyle gone totally out of her bereaved mind?

Flightplan is one of those films you love to tear to shreds and yet find yourself highly entertained by. It takes a most compelling premise - the horrifying idea that your child could suddenly vanish from under your nose - and places it in a claustrophobic, confined setting, which these days often creates a pervading sense of apprehension for many travellers.

It is the setting which is in fact the major strength of the film. The design of the theoretical next generation plane is so encompassing that the audience really feels as if they too are trapped up there with the frenzied mother. The look of the interior is totally convincing, and the sound production so lifelike that while watching I felt as though I too was surrounded by so many passengers conversing, snoring, and engaging in all the stuff that air travellers do. In Kyle's frantic search for Julia we are also privy to parts of an aircraft we would not normally see - the cargo hold, lifts that bring food trolleys to the galley, electrical wiring consoles and more. Fascinating stuff!

But of course a great setting does not in itself make a great film! Certainly the plot starts off strongly enough, with a persuasive sense of grief as Kyle prepares for a heartbreaking journey back to the States. Things become thrillingly mysterious on board with the discovery of Julia's absence, and the progressive engagement of crew and passengers in the search. Even at the point when the passengers and audience are tempted to doubt Kyle's sanity we still hang in with the tension of the plot. Meaningful glances between crew members compound the suspicion that a conspiracy may be afoot! But alas, in the last third of the film things run off the rails into the usual formulaic denouement where there are more questions than answers, and we in hindsight declare that we saw it coming all along!

Foster certainly plays strong ballsy women well, but by the end the performance gets somewhat wearing and repetitive. Young Lawson is incredibly sweet in her debut role. Sean Bean is rather impressive as Captain Rich, the kind, but doubting, pilot. Erika Christensen and Kate Beahan convince as kind but efficiently aloof flight attendants. Saarsgard however is nowhere near as strong as he was in Kinsey or Garden State, and the character he plays is almost a bland stereotype. Throw in a couple of red herring potential Arab terrorists and you're then seriously into groan territory.  Yet despite its flaws, there's still excitement and entertainment value if you're in the mood for a disposable diversion.

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