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| Courtesy of Universal |
For
90 minutes, the film’s suspenseful story and Collet-Serra’s surprisingly
effective methods of ratcheting up the tension drew me in. Then, when it was
time to answer the big questions, the anxiety melted away and I was laughing my
head off at the villain’s stupid plan and all the clichéd speechifying. I
thought it was ridiculous in an entertaining way, but I still can’t tell if
that’s what the creative team was going for.
Neeson
plays Bill Marks, an air marshal whose personal life is in shambles. Lately,
he’s even drinking on the job and sneaking smoke breaks in the lavatory since
his flights are typically uneventful. That changes during a transatlantic
flight from New York City to London, when Marks starts receiving a series of disturbing
text messages from an unknown number.
The
mystery texter has a horrifying demand for him: convince the airline to
transfer $150 million into an offshore account, or somebody on the plane will
be killed every 20 minutes. Marks does his best to locate the villain without
upsetting the passengers, but – just as promised – somebody quickly turns up dead.
In the chaos that follows, everyone on the flight has good reason to suspect
the increasingly erratic air marshal might be the bad guy he’s supposedly
trying to catch.
If
Marks is going to clear his name, he’s going to need help from the few allies
he has on board (Julianne Moore, Michelle Dockery and Lupita Nyong’o). With a
little luck, he can track down the bad guy before the nervous passengers, led
by an NYPD cop (Corey Stoll), decide he’s a threat that needs to be
neutralized.
One
of the smartest decisions Collet-Sera makes is to break up the visual monotony
of a story set almost entirely on an airplane. The film could’ve quickly gotten
boring and repetitive, especially considering large chunks of time are focused
on the protagonist texting. Instead, the director finds inventive ways to
superimpose the conversation over the action. For example, after Marks disposes
of a conspirator and confiscates his broken phone, the onscreen messages are
cracked and blurry. It’s a nice touch.
Neeson
is solid as always in action hero mode, the unlikely but totally plausible niche
he’s carved out for himself. It appears he’s beginning to loosen up a little,
adding a wink to the material that was sorely missing from more serious fare
like Taken and Unknown. He’s deft at delivering amusing one-liners,
including one perfectly timed to undercut the ridiculousness of the villain’s
big moment at the end.
The
61-year-old actor makes the physical elements of the role appear effortless. He’s
so committed to the action scenes that I got tired just watching them – and I’m
nearly 30 years his junior. He’s also got great chemistry with Moore (who he
previously worked with in Chloe), even though her underwritten role doesn’t give
her much to do.
Speaking
of underwritten roles, it’s a crime how much Non-Stop wastes the talented and
beautiful Nyong’o. She’s probably going to win an Oscar on Sunday for her
heartbreaking and brilliant work in 12 Years a Slave, but she’s essentially a
glorified extra here. She literally has less than 10 lines.
Your
opinion of the film will largely depend on how you feel about the previously
mentioned reveal, which I won’t spoil here. But it culminates in a speech so
spectacularly cheesy – and borderline offensive, depending on the audience –
that it wouldn’t be out of place in a ’70s-era Bond movie. I’d love to know
which screenwriter (the flick is credited to John W. Richardson, Chris Roach
and Ryan Engle) came up with that particular chestnut.
Even
though Non-Stop doesn’t quite stick the landing (yeah, I know – I hate myself),
there’s still enough goofy fun to recommend it. The large, diverse cast of characters
keeps you guessing as to the villain’s identity and there are enough narrative
turns to make you change your mind a few times along the way. I’m usually
pretty good at guessing these things, but I’ll admit the movie fooled me. I had
it wrong the whole time.
Non-Stop is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, some language,
sensuality and drug references.
Grade:
B-
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