2008 Woodie Awards
Foster's "Flight Plan" Soars
Sophia Koshmer
Issue date: 10/14/05 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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What would you do if one moment your child was sleeping right next to you on an airplane and the next, miles above the ground, she is nowhere to be found? A heart-pounding thriller, there is much more to "Flightplan" than meets the eye.
Throughout the film one is faced with many questions including, "Is the protagonist insane?" or "Are there terrorists aboard the flight?" and most importantly, "Who can you trust?" This film does a commendable job of keeping these questions unanswered throughout the majority of its running time.
Starring Jodie Foster ("Silence of the Lambs," "Panic Room" ), Peter Sarsgaard ("Garden State," "The Skeleton Key" ) and Sean Bean ("National Treasure," "The Lord of the Rings") this film tells the story of Kyle Pratt, (Jodie Foster) an airplane engineer who has just experienced the death of her husband and has decided to relocate from their home in Germany to New York with her five-year-old daughter, Julia aboard a massive airplane of her own design.
After falling asleep, when the plane has taken off, with her daughter stretched across the seats right next to her and many people seated around them, Pratt wakes up to find her daughter missing.
Upon searching all of the bathrooms and the quarters available to passengers, she demands there be a search of all of the areas on the plane. However, soon the captain (Sean Bean) finds out that there are no records of Pratt's daughter ever being aboard at the airport of departure and her boarding pass cannot be accounted for nor can her ticket be found.
These findings are then discussed with Pratt who reveals the tragedy that she has recently endured and the medication she has been on for its effect on her. Unsure whether or not her sanity is intact, the captain orders a search of the plan as a safety precaution only to find that the girl in fact cannot be found. When the search is called off, Pratt is not convinced that her daughter is not aboard and proceeds to cause a disturbance on her own in order to find the whereabouts of her daughter.
Foster gives a passionate and note-worthy performance in this psychological thriller alongside her co-star, Peter Sarsgaard who plays undercover air marshal Carson, who remains unsure of Pratt's lucidity and is assigned the task of keeping her contained in order to calm the disturbance among the other passengers that Pratt has caused.
From the contents of the previews, this looked to be a blow-off film, another "Panic Room." But this is very far from the truth. "Flightplan" is in fact a very well written and thought inspiring movie. It is entertainment at its best and a far cry from the obvious in its genre.
Aside from its action-packed suspense, it lightly explores such subjects as terrorism and the prejudice that it has caused among people since the 9-11 attacks. Interestingly, the film also leaves a few questions unanswered. In all, Flightplan is an excellent film.
Throughout the film one is faced with many questions including, "Is the protagonist insane?" or "Are there terrorists aboard the flight?" and most importantly, "Who can you trust?" This film does a commendable job of keeping these questions unanswered throughout the majority of its running time.
Starring Jodie Foster ("Silence of the Lambs," "Panic Room" ), Peter Sarsgaard ("Garden State," "The Skeleton Key" ) and Sean Bean ("National Treasure," "The Lord of the Rings") this film tells the story of Kyle Pratt, (Jodie Foster) an airplane engineer who has just experienced the death of her husband and has decided to relocate from their home in Germany to New York with her five-year-old daughter, Julia aboard a massive airplane of her own design.
After falling asleep, when the plane has taken off, with her daughter stretched across the seats right next to her and many people seated around them, Pratt wakes up to find her daughter missing.
Upon searching all of the bathrooms and the quarters available to passengers, she demands there be a search of all of the areas on the plane. However, soon the captain (Sean Bean) finds out that there are no records of Pratt's daughter ever being aboard at the airport of departure and her boarding pass cannot be accounted for nor can her ticket be found.
These findings are then discussed with Pratt who reveals the tragedy that she has recently endured and the medication she has been on for its effect on her. Unsure whether or not her sanity is intact, the captain orders a search of the plan as a safety precaution only to find that the girl in fact cannot be found. When the search is called off, Pratt is not convinced that her daughter is not aboard and proceeds to cause a disturbance on her own in order to find the whereabouts of her daughter.
Foster gives a passionate and note-worthy performance in this psychological thriller alongside her co-star, Peter Sarsgaard who plays undercover air marshal Carson, who remains unsure of Pratt's lucidity and is assigned the task of keeping her contained in order to calm the disturbance among the other passengers that Pratt has caused.
From the contents of the previews, this looked to be a blow-off film, another "Panic Room." But this is very far from the truth. "Flightplan" is in fact a very well written and thought inspiring movie. It is entertainment at its best and a far cry from the obvious in its genre.
Aside from its action-packed suspense, it lightly explores such subjects as terrorism and the prejudice that it has caused among people since the 9-11 attacks. Interestingly, the film also leaves a few questions unanswered. In all, Flightplan is an excellent film.