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"FLIGHTPLAN" (2005) (Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard) (PG-13) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Mild Mild Extreme Heavy Heavy Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Minor Minor Extreme None Mild Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Minor None Extreme Heavy Heavy QUICK TAKE: Suspense/Thriller: A mother frantically searches for her missing 6-year-old daughter on their transatlantic flight despite growing beliefs among the other passengers and crew that she might be mentally unstable. PLOT: It's been a rough past few days for propulsion engineer Kyle Pratt (JODIE FOSTER). Her husband died from injuries sustained in a fall and she and her 6-year-old daughter Julia (MARLENE LAWSTON) are accompanying his body from Berlin back to New York on a new airliner that she helped design. The first to board, they settle in for an overnight, transatlantic flight. Exhausted from what's occurred, Kyle falls asleep and then wakes up a few hours later, only to discover Julia missing. She initially thinks her young daughter has just wandered off, but after an impromptu search of the multi-story plane, she begins to panic. The flight attendants, including Stephanie (KATE BEAHAN) and newcomer Fiona (ERIKA CHRISTENSEN), try to comfort and help her, but Kyle insists on speaking to the pilot. Her rushing the locked cockpit door brings the swift attention of air marshal Gene Carson (PETER SARSGAARD) who eventually arranges a meeting between the distraught mother and the pilot, Captain Rich (SEAN BEAN). Although unorthodox, he orders that all passengers be seated and that the crew search the plane from top to bottom, except for the cargo hold that he deems too dangerous to explore. Their search, however, comes up empty and there's even more unsettling news. There's no record or evidence of the girl having ever boarded the plane. As the others slowly begin to think she's lost touch with reality for any number of reasons, Kyle does whatever she can and must to figure out what's going on and find the daughter she knows got on the plane with her. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're into suspense/thrillers and/or are fans of someone in the cast, they might. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13 For violence and some intense plot material. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: To avoid giving away any late in the game plot and character developments, only the initial characteristics are noted below. JODIE FOSTER plays a harried mother whose husband has recently died and is now missing their 6-year-old daughter on their plane back to the U.S. Despite others' growing beliefs that she's lost her mind, she perseveres in finding her daughter and saving the day. She uses some profanity, gets upset while under pressure and fights with several people. PETER SARSGAARD plays the air marshal onboard the plane who tries to control the situation. SEAN BEAN plays the plane's captain who does what he can to appease Kyle and her situation, but grows increasingly impatient when his and the crew's efforts don't satisfy her. KATE BEAHAN plays a flight attendant who's suspicious of and doubtful about Kyle and her claims. ERIKA CHRISTENSEN plays a new flight attendant onboard the plane who wants to believe Kyle but has a hard time doing so, especially as things become tenser. MARLENE LAWSTON plays Kyle's 6-year-old daughter who understandably seems shell-shocked over her father's recent death. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: Here's a brief summary of the content found in this suspense/thriller that's been rated PG-13. Profanity consists of at least 3 "s" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are uttered and some brief and non-explicit, sexually related dialogue is present. Violence consists of a person being killed by an explosion, a person shooting at another on several occasions and some striking of or fighting with others. Some of that has mild, bloody results, while those scenes and various moments of potential peril (along with the sight of a dead body in a casket and some potentially hairy, in-flight moments) might be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to some viewers. Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, while tense family material includes the death of a father/husband before the film starts (followed by views of his body in a casket) and a mother panicking when she can't find her daughter onboard a plane while in-flight. Some brief drinking is present and a character admits to taking some anti-anxiety medication earlier in the day. Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those concerned with bright flashes of light on the screen, some of that occurs on the plane once the cabin lights go dark. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, there's some bouncy camerawork in scenes set in the plane (particularly in moments of turbulence). ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE We see bottles of liquor in the plane's large bar. Miscellaneous people drink at the bar in the plane, while others have champagne in their seats. Captain Rich asks Kyle if she's had anything alcoholic to drink on the flight (regarding her behavior, she says no). He then asks if she's on any medication and she replies that she took several anti-anxiety pills that morning. She then adds that she's not drunk or loaded. BLOOD/GORE We see several views of a body in a casket, but beyond being dead, there's no blood or gore. A flight attendant carries a cartoon of urine (we don't see the contents) while saying that a 70-year-old passenger couldn't hold it anymore. Kyle has a slightly bloody cut on her cheek from where she fell and hit her head. Kyle bashes a guy on the head with a fire extinguisher, knocking him to the floor and bloodying his ear (he also has a little blood from his nose). DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE A passenger sarcastically says he can't see what all of the fuss is about (regarding Kyle looking for Julia), adding that it's not like she lost her Palm Pilot. Kyle confronts an Arab man on the plane, thinking he's involved in her daughter's disappearance. He claims innocence, but she and other passengers have their doubts (based on how he appears). She later comes back and says that he and his Arab friend were looking into her apartment the night before, but they again claim innocence (and a white American passenger says he doesn't trust them). As Kyle sounds more mentally unstable by the moment, Gene states that he can understand her husband's death (which we hear was from jumping from the top of a building) and that after a few more hours with her, he'd be ready to do the same. Gene jokingly asks a therapist if they need to collect Kyle's belt and shoelaces when asking if she's a danger to herself (as she heads off to the bathroom to be alone). Many passengers applaud when Gene returns with Kyle in custody. A person lies to Captain Rich about Kyle being involved in a hijacking for money plot. We learn that several people are in on the diabolical plan. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence" may also be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. We see Kyle sitting alone in a subway station, looking pensive, nervous and/or scared. Kyle nervously/anxiously approaches a casket in a morgue that contains the body of her husband. We eventually see his body lying there (and there's talk of trauma to his head), but beyond being dead, there's no blood or gore. We later see other views of the body in the casket. Kyle spots two men starring from another apartment window over to hers. Kyle briefly panics when she loses sight of Julia in an airport (but then finds her okay). For those fearful or nervous about flying, the huge plane's lift-off is a bit bumpy and shaky, there's some turbulence once in flight and then various things happen later on (Kyle causing the oxygen masks to deploy, making the cabin lights go out, etc.) that could be unsettling to such viewers. Kyle wakes up to discover that Julia is missing. At first, she calmly looks for her throughout the large, multi-story plane, but her search then becomes more anxious and frantic when she can't find her. That then continues for the rest of the film. As an Arab man goes through his bag to retrieve a receipt for Gene, the air marshal puts his hand on his gun that's tucked into the back of his pants (just in case something happens). Kyle rewires part of the plane's computer system that causes the oxygen masks to drop from the ceiling and everyone to panic. She then causes the cabin lights to go dark that has more of the same result. We see a person planting plastic explosives on the plane. The villain plans on getting away with their plan that includes Kyle being shot to death by the feds and her daughter being vaporized by explosives. That villain later keeps Kyle at bay by threatening to blow her up. The ending sequence where Kyle tries to avoid people after her, save her daughter and not be blown up will likely be suspenseful to viewers. Kyle hides beneath the villain who's on an open air catwalk directly above her. GUNS/WEAPONS Handgun/Plastic Explosives: Carried and/or used to threaten or attempt to kill others and/or cause property damage. See "Violence" for details. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "I don't give a sh*t," "You just scared the sh*t out of 400 passengers," "Nobody can tell me where the hell she is," "You're a lunatic" and "Where the hell are we?" JUMP SCENES Deicer spray suddenly hits the cockpit window. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) An extreme amount of suspenseful and ominous music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 3 "s" words, 3 hells, 1 damn, 1 S.O.B., 3 uses of "G-damn," 2 of "My God" and 1 use each of "Christ's sakes," "Jesus" and "Oh God." SEX/NUDITY Making what seemed like a double entendre regarding their searching for Julia, a male flight attendant says something suggestive about a hatch related to a female flight attendant. Later, when Kyle spots them coming out through a hatch, she sarcastically states that they did everything up there but look for her daughter. SMOKING None. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Kyle nervously/anxiously approaches a casket in a morgue that contains the body of her husband. We eventually see his body lying there (and there's talk of trauma to his head), but beyond being dead, there's no blood or gore. Julia says she doesn't want to go outside and is scared (a result of her father having just died). Kyle briefly panics when she loses sight of Julia in an airport (but then finds her okay). Kyle and Julia see the casket (holding their husband/father) being wheeled out to be put on the plane (we then see it strapped down in the cargo hold). Kyle wakes up to discover that Julia is missing. At first, she calmly looks for her throughout the large, multi-story plane, but her search then becomes more anxious and frantic when she can't find her. That then continues for the rest of the film. We hear that Kyle's husband died 6 days ago. Captain Rich informs Kyle that her daughter is dead and died of internal injuries that occurred when her husband took her with him when he jumped off the top of a building (she doesn't believe him). A therapist onboard the flight asks Kyle if her husband was unhappy and Kyle says he was. Kyle sees her husband's casket in the cargo hold, opens it and is upset at the site of his body lying there. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Losing a husband, father or family member. The psychological syndrome of doubting one's sanity due to others supporting a belief contrary to the person's perception of reality. The fact that Kyle and then others become suspicious of some Arab men on the plane. Propulsion engineers (that's Kyle's occupation). Whether planes have all of the non-public spaces as depicted here. VIOLENCE After Kyle races to the cockpit door demanding to see the captain, Gene bends her arm behind her and then bends her wrist to cause her pain and stop her efforts. Kyle jumps on an Arab man she thinks is involved in her daughter's disappearance and knocks him to the floor where she thrashes him a bit before Gene pulls her off him. During that, Fiona is knocked to the floor. Kyle tries to run off, but a man grabs her, spinning her around and she smacks her head against an armrest, knocking her unconscious. Two men briefly struggle and must be separated on the plane. Kyle smashes a car windshield (to get inside) in the plane's cargo hold as she searches for her daughter. Gene briefly holds his gun on Kyle to get control of her. We see that someone has given a girl some sort of agent that's left her in a deep state of sleep/unconsciousness (she's okay later). Kyle bashes a guy on the head with a fire extinguisher, knocking him to the floor and bloodying his ear (he also has a little blood from his nose). She then cuffs him, but moments later he fires a shot at her, shoots off his cuffs and fires more shots at her as she flees. Kyle punches the villain's accomplice in the face, flooring her. The villain falls and hurts their leg. The villain shoots at Kyle as she closes a metal hatch. Kyle sets off several plastic explosives and their explosive fireballs engulf and presumably kill the villain, blowing out the bottom of a previously landed plane. Reviewed September 19, 2005 / Posted September 23, 2005

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