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Sean Bean and Peter Sarsgaard as the captain and air marshall who try to keep Kyle calm

The scenes of people crawling through panels in the ceiling and so forth also bring to mind the Die Hard movies. And this, in turn, underscores a striking irony. John McTiernan has said that he insisted the bad guys in the first Die Hard must be after cash only, not politics, otherwise the movie wouldn't be so "fun"; and his point was proved in the second film, where the terrorists really did have a political agenda, and were much more grim. But this year's airplane thrillers reverse that logic. The bad guys in Red Eye had a political agenda, but the movie itself was a brisk, snappy crowd-pleaser. The bad guys in Flightplan—and yes, eventually the film does have them—are after only money, but the film is a drag.

Perhaps it's because Flightplan aspires to some sort of social commentary, which is handled pretty clunkily. Or perhaps it's because the bad guys, once they are revealed, turn out to be pretty lame. It's not just that they spell out their diabolical plans in hoarse, expositional whispers that you'd think might look a little suspicious to the plane's other passengers. And it's not just that they are so easily defeated once the slightest thing goes wrong, which means we never get a chance to relish their villainy. Their entire plan seems to hinge on a major stroke of luck—whether or not anyone will remember Kyle bringing her daughter on board—so it's impossible to take them seriously. While I do think that Foster and the movies she makes need to lighten up, that isn't quite what I have in mind.

Talk About It

1. How would you respond if someone said her daughter was missing, and you had no evidence that she had ever existed? What sort of evidence would you insist on? Which of these flight attendants gives the best response to Kyle's concern?
   
   
2. How would you try to prove that your own child had gone missing, if you were in Kyle's place? Is her intensity, and her unwillingness to let others get in the way even if they have legitimate concerns, an asset? Or is it a detriment?
   
   
3. Is Kyle correct to express her suspicions about the Arab passengers when she does? Should she have waited until she had more evidence? How do you think Carson and the other characters handled her accusations? Did they give her too much credit?
   
   
4. One character says, "People think what I tell them to think. That's how authority works." Is he right? Wrong? What does this film say about authority? Do you think the film has anything to say about the state of authority in nations—or on airplanes—today?

The Family Corner

Flightplan is rated PG-13 for violence and some intense plot material, including hostage-taking, occasional physical violence, and one big explosion. A couple of names are taken in vain, too.

Photos © Copyright Touchstone Pictures

© Peter T. Chattaway 2005, subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

Two weeks ago, viewers were drawn to the edges of their seats during a real-life drama as a malfunctioning airplane made an emergency landing in L.A. This week, they're on the edges of their seats again for another airborne thriller, one that only Hollywood could have served up … Flightplan.

Jodi Foster stars as Kyle, a recently widowed propulsion engineer whose daughter Julia (Marlene Lawston) disappears mid-flight. Where did she go? Does this have anything to do with the fact that her husband's body is in the cargo bay?

The bigger questions are these: After Panic Room, are viewers ready for another two hours of watching Jodie Foster storm about in a maternal rampage? And does this film have anything to offer other than twists and turns?

Religious press critics are split. Some find it thrilling, others find it too far-fetched.

David DiCerto (Catholic News Service) praises Foster as "excellent." And he says, "If you can look past its more preposterous plot elements, Flightplan is an intelligent nail-biter that keeps you guessing. And though the final departure is a bit disappointing, for its genre, it's worth boarding."

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