Flying at 40,000 feet in a state-of-the art aircraft that she helped design, Kyle Pratt's 6-year-old daughter Julia vanishes without a trace. Or did she? No one on the plane believes Julia was ever onboard. And now Kyle, desperate and alone, can only count on her own wits to unravel the mystery and save her daughter.
18 Feb Flightplan (2005)
Oceans 2
Well, I suppose we all have to decide what it means to be a powerful or effective actress. And whether Jody is capable of delivering this. In this case, the project, at least the first half, depends on us believing her panic and resulting tenacity. I didn’t.
Set that aside.
What we have is what some call Hitchcockian, which I suppose is technically true. He didn’t invent the notion of a random soul being swept up in intrigue and both she and us being puzzled until a point where we gain control.
Most commentors are happy enough with the first part of the movie and unhappy at the second half because it just doesn’t “make sense.”
Well, it does if you approach it at the right angle. Remember a few things. It was written for Sean Penn, who is our best “folded” male actor, someone who can tell multiple stories. Also, take into account that the vehicle was designed in part by Kyle, and extend that to the movie.
See, the game here is that in the first half of these things we get a story that isn’t revealed to us as watchers. We are fooled by some mastermind. Who says that fooling stops before the end?
The movie makes a whole lot more sense if Jodie is the hijacker, that she has pulled off the perfect crime, fooling everyone on the plane (our surrogates) with that cheap stunt of parading the “lost” child before us out of the smoke and haze.
If you have recently seen her subsequent movie “Inside Man,” she plays a character who potentially is the brains behind the scam, but her character was cut (“too confusing”) so she has some residual, inexplicable stubs of scenes.
Think of her character spanning these two films and managing two of the greatest crimes in history — while we watch and without us knowing.
Posted in 2006
Ted’s Evaluation — 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.
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