Flying at 40,000 feet in a cavernous, state-of-the-art E-474 aircraft, Kyle Pratt (Foster) faces every mother's worst nightmare when her six-year-old daughter Julia vanishes without a trace mid-flight from Berlin to New York. Already emotionally devastated by the unexpected death of her husband, Kyle desperately struggles to prove her sanity to the disbelieving flight crew and passengers while facing the very real possibility that she may be losing her mind. While neither the plane's Captain Rich (Sean Bean), nor Air Marshal Gene Carson (Peter Sarsgaard) want to doubt the bereaved widow, all evidence indicates that her daughter was never on board resulting in paranoia and doubt among the passengers and crew of the plane. Finding herself desperately alone, Kyle can only rely on her own wits to solve the mystery and save her daughter. - skip ad - Genres: Thriller Running Time: 1 hr. 33 min. Release Date: September 23rd, 2005 (wide). MPAA Rating: PG-13 for violence, intensity. Distributor: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution Cast And Credits Starring: Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Erika Christensen, Sean Bean, Haley Ramm Directed by: Robert Schwentke Produced by: Brian Grazer, Robert DiNozzi, Charles J. D. Schlissel

Flightplan" is a modern-day variant on Alfred Hitchcock's 1938 classic "The Lady Vanishes," only the lady in question is a 6-year-old girl and she doesn't disappear on a train but rather 37,000 feet above the Atlantic on a Berlin-to-New York flight. Where Hitchcock sought mystery and comedy, this film from young German director Robert Schwentke ("Tattoo") places its emphasis on paranoia and anger. One can easily dismiss the film as a tricked-up thriller, which surveys the geography of a jumbo jet and the calculus of human emotions in tight quarters to entertain audiences for a taut 95 minutes. But there is something really nasty about this cold, calculating exercise in mob psychology and human venality.

Two-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster might draw audiences on opening weekend, and who knows what the spectacular drama this week at LAX may do for an in-flight melodrama. But audiences might react adversely to such transparent manipulation for so weak a payoff. The Walt Disney Co. will be hard-pressed to equal the success of the year's other in-flight thriller, "Red Eye," which has grossed more than $55 million.

Foster is working here in the woman-on-the-edge/protective-mother mode that helped drive David Fincher's "Panic Room" to boxoffice success. She goes for a gaunt look and a ruthless obsession that a casual observer might well interpret as paranoia. Flight attendants and most passengers are openly contemptuous of her efforts, angry that she is disturbing an otherwise peaceful flight and absolutely certain they never saw a child in her company board the plane. Not one single person?

The movie starts oddly, as if in a bad dream. A woman, Kyle Pratt (Foster), shuffles zombielike through empty, snowy streets of nighttime Berlin. She is accompanied by a man we later learn is an apparition of her late husband, who days before fell or jumped from the top of their apartment building. Writers Pete A. Dowling and Billy Ray and the director are clearly trying to raise doubts about the widow's sanity. Yet the effort is off-putting as it situates a thriller in an unreal or even surreal world, where a viewer can trust nothing onscreen.

The rest of the movie takes place aboard a jumbo jet, where its personnel are unduly hostile toward passengers, a few Arabs are thrown in to raise the flag of terrorism and two seemingly reasonable men, air marshal Carson (Peter Sarsgaard) and Captain Rich (Sean Bean), struggle to satisfy the distraught mother.

None of the movie's tricks or twists will be revealed here. But audiences are asked to swallow the following assumptions: that no one on a packed flight saw Kyle's daughter, Julie (Marlene Lawston), not even the children seated directly in front of her; that no one noticed anyone escort a probably unwilling child up the aisle while her mother slept; that an entire airline company, post-Sept. 11, is still susceptible to rudimentary sabotage; that Kyle just happens to be an aircraft engineer who knows the plane's configurations better than the crew does; and, finally, that our bad guy(s) can anticipate each and every far-fetched coincidence.

Cinematographer Florian Ballhaus' camera maneuvers within the airplane set to maximize emotions. The camera moves in tight when Schwentke wants to disorient or distract us. Then it backs away to survey the cabin mood. It zeroes in on one flight attendant (Erika Christensen) to make us suspicious. It warmly treats the space surrounding the friendly and helpful air marshal. Extreme close-ups on Foster and a therapist (Greta Scacchi in a cameo), conveniently onboard, make us doubt the existence of a daughter.

Throughout, Foster plays the intensity with an operatic passion. Conversely, Sarsgaard is flexible and likable, while Bean is professionally stiff. Kate Beahan plays a sourpuss flight attendant who regards the situation with a disapproving and drawn face. Assaf Cohen is the designated Arab, whom passengers pick on for his ethnicity.

Press notes trumpet the fact that the fictional aircraft was largely designed by producer Brian Grazer and the director. Perhaps this is a new creative field for the two as the interior has a snappy retro design, cheerful bars, large galleys and posh, inviting lounges.