Friday, February 28, 2014

Non-Stop

Tonight I saw Non-Stop, starring Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore.

Bill Marks (Neeson) is a troubled U.S. Air Marshall, embarking on a flight from New York to London. Jen Summers (Moore), a stereotypical, chatty passenger on her phone, trades places with another man for the window seat next to Marks.

Things are business as usual until folks start relaxing to sleep through the flight. As the plane grows quiet, the chime of Bill's phone goes off as he begins receiving messages from a would-be hijacker. He/she says that one passenger will die every 20 minutes unless $150 million is wired to a specific account—which we soon learn is under the name "Bill Marks."

Soon, a passenger is dead and all aboard have to wonder if Marks himself is the hijacker.

From there, the familar-Taken-like-version of Liam Neeson emerges and the film becomes a full-on thriller.

Only Nancy the flight attendant (Michelle Dockery) and Jen trust in his innocence—but are they making the right choice by supporting him?

The script plays a fun game of ping-pong with the audience, allowing them to believe that several different people could potentially be the hijacker and it all leads to a nerve-wracking, if not predictable, ending.

The acting is solid, the effects are decent and the script refrains from too many "catchphrase" quotes.

If you just want to get lost in something entertaining for almost two hours, I think you'll like this film.