Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with a review of the Jodie Foster suspense flick FLIGHTPLAN. I'm seeing this sucker tomorrow night... I'll try to get a review out soon, but I find myself on a last minute trip to LA where I should be up to no good, as usual. My own flight leaves less than 10 hours after the closing credits roll on FLIGHTPLAN... heck of a movie to watch pre-travel, I guess. Hope it doesn't suck! This review is very lite on the spoilers. I hope I like the movie at least as much as this guy did... and hopefully a little more! Enjoy the review!
Hey guys,
Saw Flightplan at a screening in Atlanta tonight. No spoilers from me, and I don't do book report style reviews so don't expect a play-by-play. You want to know if it's good or not, this should do the trick. I also reviewed RED EYE here before that came out, so I can compare that for you as well.
I must begin by stating that I always have low expectations for modern thrillers, since they very rarely satisfy. I can think of less than five in this genre in the past 10 years that are worth remembering... but I continue watch them, hoping to be surprised.
You should also understand that I am a very big Hitchcock fan. Because of this, I take exception when publicity machines and uneducated press toss around adjectives like "Hitchcockian" when any movie with a hint of suspense or misdirection comes out.
This film in particular is directly influenced by several Hitchcock films, most obviously "The Lady Vanishes." The big difference between this film and most made by Hitchcock is that, in spite of his flaws and imperfections, Alfred Hitchcock knew how to make an audience actually feel something.
Flightplan is a very nice-looking film, with interesting and inventive camerawork and sharp cinematography. The airplane used in the film is pretty amazing... a brand new double-decker with ten seats across each row and a first class section that would put Air Force One to shame.
Jodie Foster does indeed give a great performance. She's really quite amazing... though I couldn't count the number of extreme closeups on her beautiful blue, tear-filled eyes. Those eyes get almost as much screen time as Frodo's in all three LOTR extended editions combined. I found myself looking for boom mics and key grips in her pupils.
I really like Peter Sarsgaard's recent work... particularly in "Shattered Glass," and he was pretty good here, too. Sean Bean was good and the other main players all held their own. There were no glaringly bad supporting actors (my big complaint with RED EYE).
The problem is that I have seen this movie 100 times before (when it was called something else), and even though I wasn't able to figure this one out ahead of time, I really didn't care. It's not all about the ending. It's not about the clever twists. It's about the ride.
Hitchcock was known to care very little about presenting any type of "message" in his films. All he cared about was making the audience FEEL something. He wanted them to feel scared, or nervous, or whatever the characters were feeling. In my opinion, he succeeded more often than not. Unfortunately, I never really felt any suspense or thrills while watching this suspenseful thriller. I never held my breath, feared for a character's safety, or really hated a villain.
Why? Because those of us who watch a lot of movies have already seen all the angles they try to play on us in this one. You know from the trailers that we're supposed to think Jodie Foster is nuts and no one else has seen her daughter. We've seen Sixth Sense and all the others like that... and the director knows it. Now the truth about her daughter is not the ultimate secret of the film, but anyone who can't see that red herring would probably never hear about or visit this site. So you do the math.
And I must say that no matter how well a movie is shot, edited, scored, acted and directed... please show us something new and different. What do I mean by this? Gwynneth Paltrow's head in a box... that's what. Hannibal Lector having an old friend for dinner... that's what. Norman Bates IS his Mother... that's what. Jimmy Stewart watching his love fall to her death (again), and then simply - THE END... that's what. Anything BUT alien abductions or chasing someone around a house/boat/airplane/whatever with a knife or gun.
No, I do not think that every thriller should be held up and compared to the best ever made, but I do think writers and directors should challenge themselves to do something different... something risky... something better. And if people continue to flock to these well-made but ultimately hollow copycats with little to no imagination or invention, we are much less likely to get something different, risky or better.
[stepping down from my soapbox]
All in all, in spite of my rants, this is a decent but forgettable movie that is mostly agreeable, with a couple of funny lines, some beautiful photography, great acting by Jodie Foster, nothing too objectionable, and an ending that is honest but unsatisfying.
It's on a higher plane (horrible, horrible pun intended) than RED EYE, which I enjoyed in spite of some major dialogue and performance issues. Flightplan is much tighter and more believable. But overall, it's just another decent thriller with a few twists.
Till next time,
Hitchcock's Bitch
