FLIGHTPLAN

Jodie Foster loses her only child aboard a trans-Atlantic flight from England to the United States in the thriller FLIGHTPLAN. Foster is Kyle, a recent widow, who following her husband’s apparent suicide decides to return to the States with her young daughter Julia. During the flight, both Kyle and Julia decide to sleep, but when Kyle wakes up Julia is missing.

Director Robert Schwentke ratchets up the intensity, and with a compelling performance by Foster one can excuse a screenplay which asks its audience to put their minds on auto-pilot. Schwentke’s first major American release is a success thanks to his patience, as the German director allows the mystery and intrigue to boil. His patience is a luxury a director can afford with Foster in the lead. As she did in PANIC ROOM, Foster again plays the role of heroine in very convincing fashion. She epitomizes a woman of intelligence, instincts and resourcefulness, but also adds an edge to her performance that keeps us guessing. Peter Sarsgaard, as a Federal Marshall, and Sean Bean, as the plane’s captain, provide grounded performances that maintain a crucial sense of realism. It isn’t until the film’s final quarter that screenwriters Peter Dowling and Billy Ray go too far. When our questions are answered, the film’s improbabilities become impossibilities, and the film nearly spirals out of control. Even in the midst of the lunacy, Schwentke and Foster accelerate the ferocity to a level where one loses track of all the nonsense.

Grade: B-