September 27, 2005 -- “Flightplan” is a smart suspense thriller with some clever plot twists. While the story does not bear close scrutiny, it does provide an almost plausible explanation for some very bizarre events. While the story may not be very plausible, the film is compelling largely because of excellent performances by Jodie Foster and Peter Sarsgaard, who carry the day.

Foster stars as Kyle Pratt, an aircraft engineer flying back to the U.S. from Europe following the violent death of her husband. The husband's body is in the hold of the plane. Pratt's six-year-old daughter, Julia (Marlene Lawston) is along for the ride on the huge 474 Airbus. Awaking from a nap, Pratt discovers that Julia is missing. A search of the huge aircraft finds nothing. Kyle is getting hysterical and she is upsetting the passengers. The plane's crew does some checking and discovers that Julia is not on the passenger manifest and no one remembers seeing the little girl during the flight. The crew begins to question Kyle's sanity. She is taken into custody by Gene Carson (played by Peter Sarsgaard of “Garden State”), a sky marshal on the flight. Kyle, however, is convinced her daughter is on the plane and decides to conduct her own investigation using her extensive knowledge of the plane she helped to design. She pleads with the sky marshall to help her in her desperate search.

The big question in the story, of course, is how can a small child so completely disappear on a flying plane? How is it possible that no one saw this child? There are many more questions as well. Finally, though, the effectiveness of this movie depends less on the story than on the characters, and the characters of Kyle and Gene Carson are so strong they carry this film. It is a true cat and mouse game, a battle of wits with the highest stakes imaginable. The screenplay does a good job with misdirection. A lot of false clues are planted and the audience is led to question a lot of things. It is hard to tell which way the story is headed. This is an intelligent thriller that will keep you guessing. It isn't quite as good as “Red Eye” but is better than most films of this kind. The cinematography by Florian Ballhaus (“The Secret Lives of Dentists”) and the production design are both excellent. The audience gets a good idea of the spaciousness, the layout and some very cramped spaces inside this aircraft. This movie rates a B.

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Copyright © 2005 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
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