Plot hole: The whole concept of a kidnapper 'pretending' his victim didn't get on the plane in the first place is utterly laughable. Even if nobody saw her in her seat, why didn't they see her walking down the aisle to her seat, or waiting to board the plane, or in the boarding tunnel itself? Why isn't she listed on the passenger manifest, or on her mother's travel documents or airline ticket? And there would have been security cameras all over the airport.
Flightplan (2005)
1 review
Directed by: Robert Schwentke
Starring: Sean Bean, Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Kate Beahan
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Flightplan stars Jodie Foster as a grieving widow and airplane engineer who boards a massive plane in Berlin along with her young daughter to take her deceased husband back to the U.S.A. What follows is a parental nightmare as, not only does her daughter disappear, but strangely no-one seems to have noticed the child and evidence suggests that she either doesn't exist or died. The mother's desperate search and infuriation at the mounting accusations that she might be insane lead to her being detained by an Air Marshall while alienating her from the flight crew and passengers. The plot gets even more convoluted and improbable, involving conspiracy, a ransom, hijacking and things best left for a Die Hard film. While Jodi Foster plays a thoroughly distressed but determined mother well, the rest of the characters seem half-realised and mostly just serve as plot devices. As the film nears the conclusion and the pieces of the dramatic puzzle fall into place, plot holes and utterly silly factual errors glare brighter than the runway lights on the Tarmac. OK for a Thriller/Mystery but a better written story with some attention to detail could have elevated this story to greater heights instead of leaving it circling on the runway.
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Trivia: The role of Kyle was originally written for a male character, but when Jodie Foster expressed interest, the filmmakers felt she was strong enough to carry the part and cast her instead.
Question: So no-one saw Jodie Foster bring her kid on the plane, I understand that. The plane was empty when the 2 of them boarded as they were the first to board. There wasn't anyone else on the plane and as soon as they got to their seats her little girl bent down on the floor to play with a toy, so I fully understand that no-one saw the girl. What I want to know, is how did the hijackers know she was going to be boarding first? Had she boarded much later with other passengers then SOMEONE would have seen the kid, and that would have totally foiled the plan. How could they have banked on her boarding first?
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Chosen answer: He didn't know for sure, but he had a hunch. As far as he could tell she would arrive early to register the body for the U.S. and they would let her board the plane first (as a common courtesy, since her husband died) Plus, he knew that she had knowledge of planes and that it was her interest to see a new model of an aircraft that she helped build before it was to take off.
Jason Riley