Is Jodie Foster ever going to outdo PANIC ROOM and SILENCE OF THE LAMBS? FLIGHTPLAN comes close. Jodie Foster is
in fine formas Kyle Pratt who is barely holding on after the suicide of her husband (who fell of a building). She
steps onto a plane with her six year old daughter, Julia, at the Berlin airport. She soons falls asleep when the
plane takes off and awakes hours later to find her daughter is nowhere in sight. She starts searching and soon has teh
crew searching for Julia. The evidence mounts up to Kyle. Is she making things up? Did her daughter ever
board the plane or is something more sinister going on?
Despite a couple of big Reveal scenes over an hour into FLIGHTPLAN that I wish weren't there and guessing something was
up with a certain character, FLIGHTPLAN is a an entertaining 90 minutes that made me want to have Kyle find Julia. Excellent
direction, cinematography, set design, and actors help sell the script of FLIGHTPLAN and make it work. Peter Sarsgaard
and Sean bean are a welcome part of the cast. Peter Sarsgaard comes off liek a slimebag Air Marshall. Jodi Foster
does another excellent acting job. She makes us believe in Kyle's mental state that makes you wonder if she has
gone nuts or she is just a protective mother trying to find her missing kid despite no one believing in her. The
plane set is an important character in FLIGHTPLAN that adds to the tense atmosphere Kyle experiences. FLIGHTPLAN
is a must see for thriller fans and Jodie Foster fans.
VIDEO: 2.35:1 (Anamorphic Widescreen)
Colors and shadow details are good. Image detail is nice. No complaints here.
AUDIO: English 5.1 Dolby Digital, English 5.1 DTS, French, Spanish
Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
Dialogue is very clear. Surround action is fantastic, but those who listen to the DTS will say that track is better that
5.1 DD.
SPECIAL FEATURES: Director Robert Schwentke provides a very informative audio commentaru for the film ranging from production
and story details, reshoots, and a scene that was cut down in editing because it ran on too long. He also thinks one of the
big reveal scenes insisted on by the test audiences shouldn't be in the film.
THE IN-FLIGHT MOVIE: THE MAKING OF FLIGHTPLAN is a five-part featurette running over thirty minutes. Each part has interviews
with cast and crew, raw daily footage, and plenty of behind-the-scenes footage. SECURITY CHECKPOINT reveals how different
the script was before it was rewritten for Jodie Foster to star in. CAPTAIN'S GREETINGS is a kiss up to the director featurette
you can skip. Just listen to the audio commentary instead and the director's remarks in other parts of THE IN-FLIGHT MOVIE.
PASSENGER MANIFEST focuses on the actors cast for the movie like Peter Sarsgaard is a slow burn and Sean Bean is such a nice
guy. CONNECTING FLIGHTS focuses on the film editing, sound editing, and music of FLIGHTPLAN while EMERGENCY LANDING is about
the tenth scale model they built for the plane, the various on-set effects, and CG effects.
CABIN PRESSURE zooms in on the production design of the Aalto E-474 from the various color and lighting schemes they used,
the plane walls they could raise up for various shots, and the trouble they got into when Homeland Security came calling after
they photocopied a flight manual.
The extras are a good look at the making of FLIGHTPLAN. One little complaint is they didn't include the uncut scene
with the therapist.
FINAL ANALYSIS: FLIGHTPLAN is a decent and entertaining thriller with a good batch of extras. I just wonder if they have
more tucked away for a Special Edition DVD of FLIGHTPLAN.
this article is (c)1-16-2006 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission (except for excerpts and a link
to the review). Look for additional content at http://www.livejournal.com/users/enterlinemedia and send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com
