Passengers (2008)

Originality is often in short supply in Hollywood. After all, why should a studio spend fistfuls of money developing something new, when they can liberally “borrow” from a previous release? This is the major failing of Passengers, a film which lifts its big payoff scene straight from another source (and does so in a way which will leave viewers feeling more than a little cheated).

Claire Summers (Anne Hathaway) is a grief counselor called in to assist a handful of survivors from a plane crash. While most are predictably distraught, a passenger named Eric (Patrick Wilson) seems to be experiencing a sense of euphoria. Claire agrees to work one-on-one with Eric, while the others meet in a support group to express their feelings. When a stranger begins stalking the survivors, and they start disappearing one-by-one, our plucky heroine suspects that something more sinister may be going on. Meanwhile, she must deal with a self-serving airline representative (David Morse) and her growing attraction towards Eric. Luckily, her new neighbor (Dianne Wiest) seems all too eager to help ( I’m sure nothing’s up with that).

The first problem I had with Passengers was that the fateful plane crash was glossed over in the opening minutes. If your entire film is going to be about a group of crash survivors, wouldn’t it make sense to actually show the horrors they’ve endured? We do finally see these events in a flashback near the end of the film, and by then it’s obvious that showing what happened was intentionally delayed in order to preserve the movie’s big “gotcha” moment. I have to wonder, however, about a film which sacrifices potentially its most dramatic scene in order to fool the audience.

Anne Hathaway and Patrick Wilson are the leads, and while their on-screen chemistry is undeniable, much of their relationship seems more appropriate for a romantic comedy. He lays on the charm, and she acts disinterested while batting her fetching doe eyes. Since it’s supposed to be a thriller, their constant courting only serves to disrupt the tone and make impatient viewers want to throw things at the screen.

Speaking of patience, Passengers is a movie which will certainly test your reserves of that virtue. When our heroes aren’t too busy flirting with one another, we only get an occasional hint that something may be wrong. Strange men lurk in the darkness, shadowy conspiracies seem to be forming, and bizarre betrayals are afoot. This is all stretched rather thin, however, and sometimes it feels as though we have to wait an eternity for any kind of suspenseful moment. By the time things begin to pick up speed, most viewers will have long since thrown in the towel. That’s probably a good thing, as the film’s twist ending is nothing short of sloppy and derivative. You’ll literally find yourself shouting at the television, “Hey, they did the same thing in _____!” (and did it much better, I might add).

Passengers isn’t an outright piece of cinematic garbage, but it’s certainly one which doesn’t live up to the film’s stellar cast. I was hoping to see a thought-provoking and slightly creepy feature starring Anne Hathaway, Patrick Wilson, David Morse, Dianne Wiest, Andre Braugher, Clea DuVall and William B. Davis. Maybe one day–if this group is ever reassembled for another project–I’ll finally get my wish.