Film Review: Non-stop

Non-stop. Rated M (violence and infrequent coarse language). 106 minutes. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. Screenplay by John W. Richardson, Christopher Roach and Ryan Engle.

Verdict: Guns on a plane.

In the grand tradition of Agatha Christie, comes this tense thriller about a murderer on board a flight bound for London from New York. Also on board is troubled Federal Air Marshall Bill Marks (Liam Neeson), our sad and sorry antihero for whom anything and everything that can go wrong, does. Precisely every 20 minutes.

Bill has made himself very unpopular with one or more of his fellow passengers who insist on sending him text messages on a highly secure inflight communication network. As Bill ramps up his efforts to work out who it might be by stomping around, bashing, harassing and intimidating everyone, he succeeds in making everyone else on the flight hate him too.

Collet-Serra and his trio of writers take more than a leaf out of Paul Greengrass’s vastly superior United 93 book, with the only difference being that by the time Non-stop collapses under the weight of its silly contrivances, you’ll more than likely have found yourself checking your own text messages.

Jim May’s (The A-Team) editing ensures that Non-stop is a good deal more effective than it might have been, while Julianne Moore (The Hours) brings real class to the supporting role of Jen Summers – a battle-scarred frequent flyer who remains loyal to Neeson’s increasingly hysterical Bill, even when he lays the blame for everything that is happening at her feet. Her dismissal of his accusations is the highlight of the film, and it’s at that point when it becomes impossible to not start thinking of all the marvellous films Julianne Moore has been in. This, I’m afraid, isn’t one of them.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.