Jodie Foster is a name that can get me to watch a movie I wouldn't otherwise be interested in — not every time, to be sure, but it's a big plus. It's weird, because I wouldn't necessarily describe myself as a fan of hers; seldom do I think to myself, "Wow, now that's acting!" or even "Man, is she hot!" (though the latter did cross my mind at certain moments in Flightplan, admittedly), and her public persona is fairly chilly. But she has this habit of popping up in films I love or at least like a lot — Contact, Little Man Tate, The Silence of the Lambs, Taxi Driver — so either we've simply got similar tastes or there's something about her that I'm drawn to (and given that I was involved for six years with someone whom I would occasionally describe as, "um, she's kinda like Jodie Foster," I have to go with the latter).

The above is pretty much the exact same thing I said about Panic Room back in '02, but I'm saying it again because, well, Flightplan is more of the same. This time instead of Die Hard in a big house it's Die Hard on a plane, and again, the only thing that makes it worth watching despite all of its lame formulaic screenplay contrivances is Jodie Foster as an intelligent impromptu action hero. I'm trying to think of whom else I could possibly have found myself rooting for in a role like this and it's a pretty short list. No dudes, so that narrows it down. Maybe I'll think of someone else later, but as I type this, I'm coming up with Jodie Foster, Sarah Polley, and, uh, hey, nice weather we're having. (Sarah Michelle Gellar doesn't count, because Buffy depended on the redemption of the ludicrous and it's hard to pull that off in an hour and a half, which is part of why the movie flopped.)

So anyway, yeah, this is generally forgettable prolefeed, but I liked it when Jodie did clever things. Way to go Jodie Foster thanks

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