Maybe if Foster hadn’t pulled this act a few times before, it would be less grating. But the close-ups on her face here (knitted brow betraying confused, searing anxiety) are identical to the close-ups we saw in Silence of the Lambs, Contact, and The Panic Room. Ditto for her strained, whispery-voiced delivery. It’s not a bad performance, its just the same one audiences have seen her give many times in much more engaging material.
However, if Foster was the predictable choice for this project, the rest of the casting is completely incomprehensible. Sarsgaard has turned in great work in films like Shattered Glass, and in the right part he can add a sense of individuality to a flagging lineup. But his slow, sleepy style feels inappropriate for an air marshal in the wake of 9/11. And unless Touchstone Pictures just likes wasting money, there was no reason for them to hire a rising starlet like Erika Christensen for an incidental, 5-minute role that an extra could have filled just as well. Using her for such an insignificant part ends up being a distraction rather than a bonus.
Still, acting alone isn’t responsible for grounding Flightplan—it has plot holes big enough to fly a jumbo jet through that do that. Without giving away any spoilers, let’s just say that the bad guys rely on an awful lot of uncontrollable circumstances falling their way (like perfect, silent behavior from a six-year-old) to carry out their nefarious plot. Even worse, the paint-by-numbers plot holes come complete with fake-out throwaway clues that aren’t fooling anyone.
It may be flying under the cover of an A-list cast, but Flightplan is just another B-rate thriller.