Your account does not include highlighter on images.
Searches Highlighted on Image
| January 20, 2006 Barnstable Patriot |  |
|
©
Publisher. All rights reserved. Upgrade to access Premium Tools
PAGE 24 (24 of 32 available) PREVIOUS NEXT Jumbo Image Save To Scrapbook Set Notifiers PDF JPG
January 20, 2006 |
|
|
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader 
|
Flightplan
(PG-I3)
^J^H
jIHSft
By John Walker
arts@barnstablepatriot.com
Flightplan 's tagline asks us "If
someone took everything you lived
for.... how far would you go to take
it back?" But my question is if ev-
erything you lived for is your child,
how can you lose her twice in the
first ten minutes of the film?
Flightplan follows story ofrecently
widowed propulsion engineer, Kyle
(Jodi Foster) and her young daugh-
ter as they board a transatlantic
flight.The purpose of the flight isto
transport her deceased husband'sre-
mains back to America for burial.
The two board the flight ahead of
the other passengers and quickly
settle in for a long flight. Three
hours into the flight however, Kyle
awakens only to find her daughter
is missing.
How could someone just vanish
on a transatlantic flight? Kyle in-
stantly over-reacts and causes a stir
amongst both the passengers and
crew. A search is lead by the crew
as well as an Air Marshall played by
Peter Sarsgaard. The search turns
up nothing other then the fact that
all boarding manifests list Kyle as
boarding alone, no one amongst the
crew or passengerssawher childand
furtherinvestigationintothe matter
uncovers the fact that the daughter
died with the father.
Is Kyle delusional? Is the crew
trying to cover up some sinister
plot? Willthe stewardess ever come
around with complimentary drinks?
Is that armrest mine or the guy's
sitting next to me?
The filmmakers, with two words,
answer these questions: screw and
you. I did not enjoy this film at all.
It'swell-shot withsomegreatactors,
including Sean Bean as afrustrated
pilot trying to make sense of ev-
erything that is happening. What I
didn't likewas the plot contrivances
and holes that exist simply to wring
some cheap tension out of anoverly-
convoluted script.
First off, why would any airline
let a hysterical woman run about
the plane searching for a passenger
that records show never boarded
the plane? Why wouldn't the air
marshal or captain prescribe some
sort of tranquilizer to at least sub-
due the passenger for the duration
of the flight?
Secondly,whywouldapropulsion
engineer know so much about the
interior designof aplaneiftheirmain
function were to design engines?
And is it wise to put all of the other
passengers' fives at risk so she can
simply use the time to inspect the
cargo hold for her daughter?
Why do the entire crew think
Kyle is crazy and delusional until
she accuses an Arab of taking her
daughter? Kyle has offered the
crew no hard proof that she even
boarded with another person but
when she blames anArab passenger
she switches from delusional crazy
woman to hero.
Is this scene a commentary on
Americans prejudices towards peo-
ple of Arab background or simply
a red herring to throw off the audi-
ence? More than likelythe filmmak-
ers intended it to be the later.Ifthey
weren't overly concerned with alogi-
cal,cohesive or even semi-believable
plot I hardly think social commen-
tary was high on their list.
If you intend to see the film then
I suggest you skip the next part
because it gives awaythe lamethird
act ofthisfilm that trulyisahorrible
action movie cliche. Why was the
villain's plan so needlessly complex
just to steal some money? What if
Jodi Foster's character had taken
a Valium and not awakened until
the plane landed safely in New York
hence, never knowingher daughter
was missing until the plane was al-
ready grounded and no longer the
air marshals jurisdiction?
Despite the great acting talent,
the plot and story are so exceedingly
far-fetched that,ifyou even semipay
attention, you will feel cheated by
the third part of this stupid idiotic
thriller.
But what truly made me want to
throw this DVDinto the engines of a
747 along with the writersand direc-
tor was the films final line.Reunited
after mid-air panic , re-routing,
emergency evacuation and a fiery
explosion,mother and daughter hug
astheymaketheir waytosomewhere
in the back of a station wagon. The
daughter looks at the mother and
says sleepily "Are we there yet?"
HA,HAandHA!ThankHollywood
for havingto throw one ofyourclever
little lines into an already bad film.
If you want a good little thriller
about airplanes than rent Red Eye.
It is definitely more in the realm of
plausibility than Flightplan , more
fun and does not take itself as seri-
ous. My suggestion is either rent
something else or put your brain in
the upright position and trytoignore
all the turbulence in this film.
Library Pick: Panic Room
This is another thriller staring
Jodi Foster. In this film she plays
a mother of a daughter whose life
becomes endangered when a group
of villainsbreak into her new house.
Luckily, the new house has a panic
room, where Jodi Foster and her
child hide out. Unfortunately, what
the thieves are searching for is lo-
cated in the panic room itself. Panic
Room is available at the Marstons
Mills Library.
Academy's Habeas Corpus is simply shagalicious
Meet wicked Dr. Wicksteed and his mends
By John Watters
arts@barnstablepatnot.com
ROBERT TUCKER/FOCALPOINT STUDIO
OFF KILTER - There's comedy in the characters' contortions as the Academy of
Performing Arts presents Alan Bennett's Habeas Corpus. Front to back: Priscilla
Mariani, Dafyyd Rees, Sue Winslow . Joe Bishop and John Williams.
The Greeks might have created
theater,but the Britishhave put their
stamp on it as well. Within drama
and comedy's universal roots, the
Brits have found a niche they like to
call their own. From Shakespeare to
Ayckbourn,they have parried rapier
wits romping around the bedroom.
AlanBennett'ssexfarceHabeas Cor-
pus isaperfect example of why these
hysterically fast-paced comedies are
Brit theater at it best.
With a title like Habeas Corpus ,
one might be misled into thinking
that the game afoot ishomicidal.You
would be mistaken, for the body to
be discovered here is usually quite
lively in the examining room of Dr.
Arthur Wicksteed , played tight and
bawdily to the vest by veteran actor
Dafydd Rees.
The good practitioner has more
than an eye for disease, especially
whenyoungwomen withvoluptuous
corpuses disrobe. And of course
like cobblers' children needing new
shoes, the doctor 'swifeneeds some
practicing in the bedroom as well,
which is why Muriel Wicksteed (Su-
sanWinslow) islooking to find acure
withanother physician,Dr.Sir.Percy
Shorter. Dr. Shorter, played by John
Williams, is rather diminutive.
The undersexed Vicker Canon
Throbbing (Rich McKey) wants to
marry Dr, Wicksteed's mousy, level-
chested sister Constance (Dakota
Shepard).Meanwhile,their neurotic
and hypochondriacal son Dennis
(Joe Bishop) wanders about choos-
ing fatal maladies duj our from his
father's medical manuals.
Bring into the mixLady Rumpers
( Priscilla Mariani) , a widow fresh
back to the homeland from Addis
Ababba with her comely daughter
Felicity Rumpers, played by Sioban
Stackpole. Add a breast appliance
fitter, Mr. Shanks (Sean O'Neil) and
asuicidalpatient Mr.Purdue (Brian
Dudley) who can't get anyone's at-
tention and you have theingredients
for a very funny night of theater.
But in order to make this gin and
tonic perfect ,one needs someone to
stir the straw, and this someone is
Mrs. Swabb, played wonderfully by
Jean Bates, a saucy housekeeper
whose rampant curiosity allows her
to narrate the comings and goings.
Habeas Corpus is a laugh-out-
loud dash from beginning to end
with a little bit of everything from
song parodies,poetic readings, even
a little dance thrown in for good
measure.
Set in the 1960s, the age of pro-
miscuousness and "free love," the
production hastheperfect backdrop
for the tantalizing, tawdry tale of
over-rewed sex drives, and flirta-
tious misidentity.
It is clear that directors Stephen
Russell and Lucia Huntley deter-
mined from the start that this is in-
deed an ensemble piece with no one
part having more importance than
another. Their meshing of the play
and its talented cast is as smooth
as silk sheets.
Habeas Corpus is at the Academy of Per-
forming Arts in Orleans through Feb. 9, with
shows Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m.
and Sunday at 2 p.m. For tickets ($18), call
508-255-1963.
i J K j r A
^^
mM^m^^SSf^ ^
F\ \
RESTAURANT