Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/288180
APRIL 2-8, 2014 UCW 25 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Seriously, what just happened? To be fair, Non-Stop (106 minutes) kept me guessing about what was actually going on until the final act. Unfortunately, the film accomplished that primarily by springing the "real" culprit on the audience without bothering to justify or satisfactorily explain why they were so villainous. Along the way, the filmmakers managed to avoid any hint of an actual twist by focusing on Liam Neeson making himself look guilty at every turn. After testing the waters with The House of Wax remake, director Jaume Collet-Serra made some pretty decent films in the "B" films with aspirations category. His best film so far is probably Orphan, which had a twist that actually worked, unlike this one. The twist here involved mostly picking a random character out of a hat and saying to the audience, 'Yes, that one did it. For some reason.' In fact, I have to wonder if the screenwriters wrote the first two- thirds of the movie, then departed on a three-day drunk, leaving the cast to draw straws to discover the name of the villain. Bill Marks (Neeson) is a boozehound U.S. Air Marshall with a sad little life when he climbs aboard his latest assignment, a non-stop flight from New York to London aboard made- up airline Aqualantic. As he departs and makes his way through security he meets a cast of colorful characters who may become important later. These include Jen Summers (Julianne Moore), flight attendant Nancy (Michelle Dockery), an eight year-old plot device named Becca (Quinn McColgan), a co-pilot named Kyle (Jason Harner), that guy from Hell on Wheels with bad hair (Anson Mount), and future Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o playing some random background character with five lines of dialogue named Gwen. Once everyone is on board, Jen manages to switch seats so she can sit next to Bill, and they bond over his fear of taking off in an airplane. I would suggest downing a couple of valium before the flight, except he is an alcoholic and carrying a gun. It seems like adding a tranquilizer into that mix is a bad idea. It also seems taking an easily accessible projectile weapon into a pressurized environment would raise some security concerns and get switched out for a taser, or possibly a dart gun filled with knock-out juice. But I guess Homeland Security knows what it's doing! Midway over the Atlantic, Bill receives a text message threatening regular intervals of mysterious death until $150 million is transferred to an account. Bill attempts to follow procedure but he sucks at his job and has a hard time selling the slightly improbable scenario to the other Air Marshall on board and an even harder time convincing the bureaucrats on the ground. See, if General Colin Powell didn't make a PowerPoint presentation of it, it's not a credible threat (and vice-versa). At this point, Bill labels everyone but the suspiciously ingratiating redhead sitting next to him a suspect and starts reviewing security to locate suspects based on them using their phone. It takes about five minutes, but eventually he realizes that "everyone on the plane except me is using a phone." Forced to think of another plan he randomly searches passengers, and I decide the villain could just as well be in the luggage area of the plane which would be a much better plot twist anyway. Summing up, good-to-great directing saved a terribly plotted film. The dialogue was uneven, and the conclusion slightly ludicrous, but overall this was some decent movie junk food to feed your brain. Hey! That Random Guy Over There Did It Non-Stop (Rated PG-13) by HEATHER GRIFFITHS HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upand- comingweekly.com. 910.484.6200. FTCC Horace Sisk Gymnasium • 2201 Hull Rd. • Fayetteville, NC Featuring Fayetteville's own Danny Highsmith as auctioneer and emcee Entry Ticket $100 Includes dinner for two and a chance to win $5000 Cash in a Reverse Raffle Extra Dinner Ticket $25 Golf Invitational Tournament April 30, 2014 • Registration 10:30 a.m. • 12 p.m. Tee Time Gates Four Golf & Country Club 6775 Irongate Dr. • Fayetteville, NC SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES! PLEASE CONTACT FTCC FOUNDATION OFFICE TO BE A SPONSOR! Gala Auction & Dinner April 29, 2014, 6:30 p.m. FTCC Foundation Gala Auction and Golf Invitational www.faytechcc.edu/foundation/gala_golf.aspx For more information, contact FTCC Foundation Office at 910.678.8441 Fayetteville Technical Community College (FTCC) Foundation, Inc. announces the 2014 Golf Invitational & Gala Auction Supporting FTCC students through scholarships, book funds, and educational programs.