Here is one certain thing I can say about the movie. I liked it. It was a very good, tense, thriller. My only problem is with who the villian turned out to be. Was it supposed to be this easy to figure out, or were the filmmakers intentionally doing this? However, even though the villian is kind of obvious, it doesn't get in the way of enjoying the film.

Besides that though, the film is very well acted and the plane design is absolutely stunning to look at.

A-

Very impressed. Jodie Foster was fantastic, Sean Bean was enjoyable... great cast, fantastic work. Nice direction, superb production design... Very good effort overall! The plot was above average, though a bit cliqued. If you are looking for a quality projection that is very tense and lovely to look at, skip the cheap and cheesy Red Eye and see this one!!

A-/B+

Flightplan reminds me strongly of The Forgotten, except it's a better movie. Like that Julianne Moore thriller, Flightplan moves along smoothly and effectively for about an hour until diving into a absurd conclusion that causes the movie to almost totally collapse. The ending is a particular disappointment because we feel like the movie could've gone in more interesting directions, because Flightplan is a taut, tense thriller for most of its running time. Talented (and choosy) actress Jodie Foster appears in a film (not counting a tiny role in last year's A Very Long Engagement) for the first time since Panic Room, and she's entirely believable as a desperate woman who slowly begins to lose a grasp on her situation; Foster does such a convincing job that we wonder if her character is actually just a crazy woman. Sean Bean gives a solid performance as the captain of the plane, but Peter Sarsgaard does nothing interesting with an annoying character. Erika Christensen is horribly underused, not appearing for more than 10 minutes at most. Flightplan is worth seeing, at least for the effective first hour of the film. It's unfortunate that the scatterbrained ending had to end a movie with such great promise on a bit of a whimper. C+

I went into the film expecting a taught and effective thriller starring one of my favorite actresses. Instead, I saw a film that was not only cliched, but boring and uninteresting. In short, it was a mess. From a plot that is simply absurd, to multiple inaccuracies on every level including the aircraft dynamics the film was more groan inducing then anything.

Foster delivers a decent, if mediocre performance as the title character. Sean Bean and Stellan Skarsgaard deliver mediocre performances as well, and the rest of the cast is not worthy of mentioning.

The ending is absurd and the film really isn't that exciting to watch in any way. Overall, the film crashes on so many levels one must wonder why the production team didn't choose another route for their flight.

C

Nicely done suspense thriller!

Anyone who has seen Alfred Hitchcock's classic: The Lady Vanishes is not going to be surprised by the plot - but what the hey! - it's so good, it never gets stale. Jodie Foster brings the requisite anxiety to the role and is ably supported by droopy eyed Peter Sarsgaard and stalwart Sean Bean. Not to mention a whole passenger list of airplane secondary characters culled from as far back as Airport. Airplane!, and of course, 9/11! There's a whole running joke with an Arab passenger that is a hoot! One thing you can say for it is, it's an up-to-date fear-fest. This is quality terror, like a great wooden rollercoaster, worth paying for.

4 out of 5.

What's so absurd about the plot? It's not like we don't have to suspend our imaginations for most other films. And the plane dynamics? What is so absurd about the plane? I've heard lots of bitching about the plane elsewhere, and nobody has given a solid reason for why it's so "absurd".

We'll have to disagree about the performances, I thought they were all great.

And the ending? What's so bad? The only complaint I had was the cop getting all "drunken" and unprofessional. He lost it. I thought it came off as a bit sloppy, but it really didn't bother me too much. There isn't anything in the ending thats impossible, it's just the sloppyness of the cop that makes it seem messy.

After sleeping on it, I do not think this one was a mess. It was far better than The Forgotten and probably my favorite thriller thus far this year. I stick by my B+

The ending is so bad because it is so completely predictable. They couldn't have come up with something more interesting than that?

Apparently not. Like I mentioned, I thought the ending worked fine. There was an incredible amount of tension in the theatre, and everyone else seemed to like it, too. It's cliqued, it's been done before, but it worked. Pratt could have been left as insane, her daughter dead, etc, but I don't think that would have worked nearly as well. Frankly, I'm glad they ended it the way they did. It was a pleasent ending, and a lovely tie up to a solid movie.

I was still considering seeing this, but something tells me I can skip it, at least skip seeing it at the theater.

I would still go see it. I know, just say it, LIBS DIDNT LIKE IT.

It's better than most of the flicks out right now. Worth a watch, too.

I was having second thoughts about going before she saw it, which is why I saw Corpse Bride instead yesterday, but her review pretty much convinced me more than your review did.

That's because you're obsess... err, my review was pretty lame. I still think you should see it. It isn't a bad movie by any means and its better than 90% of everything else out there. Best thriller of the year, too.

I'm not crazy

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbc ... S/50921001

3.5/4

Libs word still rules all, and that includes Roger Ebert.

Zach, the plane dynamics were totally wrong. For example, when Pratt goes into the luggage hold, she is it 35,000 feet, she would have litterally frozen to death. She was wearing an almost sleeveless shirt and she didn't once shiver? Yeah, that was brilliant.

And there were more things such as that but I don't feel it necessary to spoil the film for others.

By all means! Spoil them! Or pm them. I've yet to see a solid arguement against goofs.

Luggage holds are pressurized, temperature controlled areas... just the same as the passenger cabin. You would not freeze to death... in fact, you would likely record the SAME temperature!

It's not like a C+ is bad, Maverikk. She mentioned that it had a strong first hour.

The only plot problem I have with the movie occured in the very beginning. Why did Kyle see the Arabs in the window adjacent to her house? It was established that they were innocent and had no connection to Julia's disappearance. What reason would they have for being there? The only possible explanation is that they were figments of Kyle's imagination, but that makes little sense because she had never seen them before. What are the odds that she imagines two people watching her, and then sees people that look just like them the next day?

Despite that, I still enjoyed the movie. As far I was concerned, any plot twist more reasonable than aliens was good enough for me,

I was impressed, a good film

B (which is very hard to get nowadays)

Yeah it's not bad, but do you really want to spend around 9 dollars on a C+?

Going into the film, I knew what the twist would be, basically, but not everything about it. So, yeah, knowing the 'twist' (if you even want to call it that...it's not that surprising or absurd) wasn't a huge deal. The film was shockingly entertaining. Is the story flawed? Yes. A few loose ends here and there. But, really, this film was no where near as bad as The Forgotten or White Noise. The 'twist' changes the pace of the film, but it doesn't go beyond the limitations of reality, either (*cough* The Forgotten *cough*), which was good. Except for those few loose ends, I thought the story was very well done, and the performances to be good (for a thriller, anyways). Jodie Foster was her usual, excellent self. Not her best role, but she pulled off the role better than anyone else could. Other things could have been done to the film, but I seriously think it could have only been worse with a different choice. Even knowing the twist (most of it, though not the important part), I think they made the film way to easy to predict. It was just so, so...obvious. I was able to guess the "other" part in the first 30 minutes of the film, easy. But, it was still somewhat suspensful. The film worked, flaws aside, and Jodie's performance made it even better. B+

For those who have seen it:

*Spoilers*

Julia was on the plane. She went ON the plane. How is it that only two out of 450 people saw her? Why didn't Erika Christensen see her?!

And, yes, Sarsgaard was sloppy. And the accomplice? How obvious was that?

Wow, Zing and I agreed. Heh.

Spoilers below.



Erika DID see the daughter. She was the only one, so she kept her mouth shut. Wasn't it obvious that she didn't want to be called a loon by the rest of the crew, too?

Plus, they were the first ones on and sat in the last row. They quietly snuck back to the empty seats after take off on a night flight, in which nearly everyone is usually sleepy or drowsy. She passed maybe five-ten people going back there. That isn't such a stretch. The cop could have taken her and snuck through an access area in the rear of the plane, and taken that route. That's perfectly concievable to me.

Was better than I expected, but Red Eye is much better

B-

Did you forget that you graded it not two posts before this one?