Flightplan is reminiscent of The Lady Vanishes, one of Alfred Hitchcock's best and earliest works. A poll of critics by Sight and Sound ranked that Hitchcock movie as among the best films ever made. It was remade in 1979, and  Flightplan appears to be another attempt to top Hitchcock's version by spinning the same intriguing story in a different way. A lofty goal, but this thriller falls far short of the mark. 

We first notice Kyle (Jodie Foster) in a subway station headed downtown. We can see something isn’t right, and soon it's revealed she is a widow faced with identifying her late husband’s remains. Kyle longs to be with him one last time to erase what has happened and relive past memories.  Kyle has a beautiful 6-year-old daughter named Julia (Marlene Lawston). The two plan to fly from Berlin to the United States in order to return David Pratt's remains.  

Kyle, an engineer who played a key role in building the 425-seat aircraft that will cruise at an altitude of 37,000 feet, tells her daughter to stretch out in rows not occupied. Three hours into the flight, mom is frantic when she finds that her daughter has disappeared. The wants the entire plane searched, including compartments only she and the crew know about. Crew members become all too ready to ignore her when they find there is no record of Julia ever being on the plane. This escalates Kyle's efforts to find her daughter. 

After listening to Kyle's story intently at first, the captain  (Sean Bean) soon realizes that he may have someone on board who's in a delusional state or suffering from a mental disorder. The crew tries to control Kyle, but she manages not only to keep passengers antsy but also to knock out the plane's electrical power and send oxygen masks down while searching the plane herself.

Appearing to come out of thin air, a therapist tries to convince Kyle she is suffering from delusions resulting from grief. Foster's character has now reached the height of being out of control and has attacked, harassed, threatened, and kicked two Arab men who were minding their own business on the flight.

Kyle's attack on thee two men provokes the ire of a federal air marshal (Peter Sarsgaard). This guy is one tough customer. Revealing a serious mean streak, he tends to do everything out of malice. Does he know something -- or rather does anyone know anything? With everyone trapped, all 425 passengers are suspects in Kyle's eyes. She wants the truth but can no longer explore the plane unless accompanied by the air marshal.

Up to this point, Flightplan is quite intriguing. It's an emotional roller-coaster with audience members on the edge of their seats and looking forward to a heck of a good ending. Unfortunately, this plane comes crashing down with a hokey, predictable and ludicrous explanation of the Kyle and Julia mystery. While the filmmakers filed a flightplan and knew how to take off, they failed to figure out how to land the plane safely and successfully. Solid performances do not make up for the disappointing last 30 minutes of this movie.

Alfred Hitchcock remains untouchable as a cinematic genius with a special gift for creating suspenseful and mysterious films like The Lady Vanishes, a much better movie than Flightplan. Although many filmmakers have tried to resurrect that genius and bottle it, they cannot. Instead of attempting to channel Hitchcock, they should develop their own type of genius and look to the master only for inspiration.    

(Released by Touchstone Pictures and rated "PG-13" for violence and some intense plot material.)