My Children Will Be Handcuffed to Me At All Times: FLIGHTPLAN

Number one movie in the america for two weeks, so I figured I ought to see it. Not to mention people were boycotting it, which is a surefire way to get me interested in going. FLIGHTPLAN stars Jodie Foster (in a role originally written for a man) as a movie flying her husband's coffin back to america who falls a sleep and has her daughter stolen from her - though no one on the plane even remembers her being there. Its a solid film, though I can't help but compare it to the near perfect RED EYE. Unlike that film, where everything is planted and paid off, this screenplay by Billy Ray (Suspect Zero, the excellent Shattered Glass) is full of red herrings, like the always excellent Erika Christenson making a comment about always finding her nieces and nephews in hide and seek, and then not finding anyone in this movie - in fact not even really being used in the movie, so much so that you are like, why did she take that part? Or several nearby passengers who end up not being involved in the storyline, despite several appearances on screen early. Then there is captain borimir (Sean Bean) who does very little in the story at all and could have been anybody. And then there's Jodie Foster, who I quite like, in anything. And I especially like to see her kick ass. Like a good action star. And she does that quite well. But Steven Segall never won the academy award for his acting and Foster just doesn't have enough to work with to really make a full character. But since no one else is doing that either, its not really that much of a fault. The finest performance is turned in by the always morally questionable Peter Sarsgaard (didn't I just say that - by the way, Peter Sarsgaard is not related to Stellen Scarsgaard- and William and John Hurt are not brothers - just figured that out). Sarsgaard plays the air marshall who doesn't believe Foster really had a daughter and then, well, I don't want to ruin it. Anyway, he's quite good.

You know, it's not a bad movie, but it's not a great movie. There are so many things that could have been improved, and each step of the movie proceeded so slowly, I was always a step ahead (I knew where the girl was about five minutes into the search - and you will too). And then there is the trailer, which basically gave away most of the movie. The best moment of the whole movie probab ly would have been the shot in the trailer where the Jodie breathes on the window and sees where her daughter drew a little heart with her finger. But it was ruined. Because I saw it. In every preview. And I kept waiting for it to happen. There are so many movies that are crippled by a show-all trailer - I really wish they would figure out that less is more. That's why teasers are almost universally more exciting than trailers. Anyone remember the teaser for Godzilla (bad movie, great trailer). I am glad they changed the character to a female - I think it added an emotional aspect that would not have been present otherwise. And also made the story a lot more believable as far as people pushing her around.

FLIGHTPLAN is recommended for fans of Jodie Foster, people who see any movie that's set in an airplane, people anxious for another morally questionable role from Peter Sarsgaard, and those of you with a closet stewardess fetish. Rick's Rating: B