| Review:
|
If you think plane rides are scarier than ever these
days, what with terror alerts and the deadly effects of
ice and birds in the vicinity, Passengers has something
pretty high on the shock meter in store for viewers, that
may make you think about taking trains instead.*** Directed
by Rodrigo Garcia, son of famed Colombian writer Gabriel
García Márquez, Passengers postulates an intriguing and
also decidedly unnerving notion, however extreme, that corruption
in the world can disturb the tranquility and peace of mind
of humanity, as well as the restless dead.***
Anne Hathaway is Claire in Passengers, a nervous young
shrink and driven workaholic, who is assigned the formidable
task of conducting group therapy sessions with the surviving
victims of a recent plane crash. Among her patients is Eric
(Patrick Wilson), an inappropriately cheery corporate executive
who decides to leave ambition behind after his near death
experience, and live a simple creative life as a painter
insetad. He also mocks Claire's attempts to psychoanalyze
him and maintain rigid professional distance, while clearly
trying to hit on her and seduce her into surrendering to
his playful charms.***
At the same time, the survivors start disappearing
one by one, or wander around in a dazed state, as officials
from the airplane company stalk them all in murky shadows.
And who may or may not be trying to cover up engine defects
that caused the crash, and that if discovered would put
the company out of business.***
|
|
Final Words:
|
Passengers combines pungent,
eerie atmosphere with its many moments of chilling when not
outright bizarre happenings. And Hathaway, along with Wilson,
Dianne Wiest as Claire's far too nosy when not utterly weird
neighbor and David Morse as the secretive airline functionary,
provide mesmerizing, surreal ensemble chemistry that rarely
subsides, serving up a deliriously potent supernatural yarn
that should sufficiently frazzle viewer nerves on impact.***
|
