I ‘RECUPERATI’ di ‘CelluloidPortraits’ - RECENSIONE - A tre anni di distanza da 'Unknown-Senza identita'' Liam Neeson torna a lavorare con il regista Jaume Collet-Serra - PREVIEW in ENGLISH by SCOTT FOUNDAS (www.variety.com) - Dall'8 MAGGIO
(Non-Stop; REGNO UNITO/FRANCIA/USA 2014; Thriller; 106'; Produz.: Silver Pictures/StudioCanal in associazione con: Anton Capital Entertainment (ACE)/LOVEFiLM International/TF1 Films International; Distribuz.: Buena Vista International)
L'agente federale William "Bill" Marks (Liam Neeson) si trova su un jet in volo da New York a Londra seduto accanto a Jen Summers. Dopo il decollo, improvvisamente, un individuo anonimo comincia a mandargli messaggi intimidatori, dicendogli che se non verserà 150 milioni di dollari su un conto, ogni 20 minuti morirà un passeggero. Impaurito dalle minacce si rivolge ad un suo collega, Jack Hammond, che però non gli crede, convinto che sia solo uno scherzo. Bill non si rassegna e chiede all'assistente di volo Nancy Hoffman e alla sua vicina Jen di controllare sui monitor delle telecamere interne chiunque abbia un cellulare, in modo da identificare il ricattatore.
Bill segue Hammond nel bagno dopo che il collega aveva utilizzato il telefono. Qui, Hammond ammette un coinvolgimento nel ricatto e si offre di dare a Bill una parte del denaro. Bill rifiuta e avviene una violenta colluttazione tra i due, nella quale Bill si trova costretto a uccidere il suo collega. In quel momento suona il cronometro avviato da Bill, i primi venti minuti sono scaduti: il primo passeggero ucciso è Hammond. Controllando i messaggi telefonici di Hammond, Bill scopre che l'uomo aveva la ventiquattrore piena di cocaina.
Bill chiama il suo superiore a terra con l'intento di far accreditare i 150 milioni di dollari richiesti, ma il suo superiore lo informa che il conto bancario è stato registrato a suo nome e accusa Bill di essere l'autore di quei messaggi intimidatori. In quel momento, scadono i successivi 20 minuti e muore il comandante, apparentemente avvelenato.
Bill cerca di perquisire tutti i passeggeri, mentre il co-pilota è incaricato di dirigere l'aereo verso l'Islanda, dove si trova l'aeroporto più vicino per atterrare. Bill convince il programmatore Zack White a scrivere un virus informatico per far squillare il telefono del dirottatore; il telefono squilla nella tasca di un banchiere, che però nega di essere il ricattatore. Bill cerca di fargli delle domande, ma dalla sua bocca fuoriesce della schiuma e muore. Ancora una volta suona il timer, sono passati altri 20 minuti.
Bill ordina di far scendere l'aereo a ottomila piedi, ma proprio in quel momento scopre che il vero dirottatore è Bowen, il quale, con la complicità di White, il programmatore informatico, ha organizzato tutto per rovinare la reputazione dell’Air Marshals Service e umiliare così l'intero sistema di sicurezza americano (di cui Bill fa parte), per non essere riuscito a sventare l'attacco alle Torri Gemelle, in cui era perito anche il padre di Bowen. Dopo una colluttazione, Bill ha la peggio e perde la pistola, che finisce a Bowen, il quale spara a White, non appena quest'ultimo viene convinto da Bill a disinnescare la bomba. In quel momento, l'aereo inizia a perdere quota e, nella confusione generale, Bill colpisce mortalmente Bowen.
La bomba esplode e Bill spinge White, ferito solo alla spalla da Bowen, verso il retro dell'aereo, facendolo morire nell'esplosione della bomba. Nonostante i danni, il co-pilota riesce ad atterrare in sicurezza in Islanda. Bill viene scagionato da tutte le accuse e acclamato come un eroe.
Storyline:
Bill Marks is a U.S. Air Marshal and ex-NYPD officer who boards a direct transatlantic flight from New York City to London. Marks sits next to Jen Summers in business class, who has switched seats so that she can sit by the window. After takeoff, Marks receives a text message on his secure phone stating that someone will die every 20 minutes unless $150 million is transferred to a specified bank account. Marks breaks protocol and consults the flight's other air marshal Jack Hammond, who dismisses the threat. Marks instructs Summers and flight attendant Nancy to monitor the security cameras while texting the mysterious person in order to identify him.
When Marks catches Hammond on his phone nearing the 20-minute mark, he confronts him again. Hammond tries to bribe Marks which confirms his suspicions and attacks, forcing Marks to kill him exactly at the 20-minute mark. Marks finds cocaine in his briefcase and learns the perpetrator had blackmailed him and set him up for death. Marks alerts the TSA, but TSA Agent Marenick informs Marks that the bank account is registered in his name and accuses him of being the perpetrator. Captain David McMillan is apparently poisoned, but co-pilot First Officer Kyle Rice convinces Marks that he is innocent. Marks searches the resentful passengers, where one of them uploads a video in which Marks accuses and manhandles schoolteacher Tom Bowen, convincing the rest of the world that Marks is the perpetrator.
Rice is instructed by the TSA to divert to Iceland. Marks persuades programmer Zack White to write a computer virus to make the hijacker's phone ring. The phone rings in passenger Charles Wheeler's suit pocket, but he denies it is his. As Marks roughly questions him, Wheeler suddenly dies, foaming at the mouth. In the first-class lavatory, Marks discovers a hole drilled into the wall that offers a clear shot to the pilot's seat and discovers a dart in Wheeler's body. A passenger tells him that Summers entered the lavatory recently. Marks accuses Summers of being the hijacker. Summers becomes upset as she had stood by him and convinces him of her innocence. Two RAF Typhoon fighter jets meet the plane to escort it to a military base in Iceland.
Summers and Marks unlock the hijacker's phone, which unintentionally starts a 30-minute timer for a bomb. Through words in a television news report claiming that Marks is hijacking their flight, Marks realizes that the bomb bypassed the security checks, and finds it in Hammond's cocaine briefcase. When some passengers attack Marks, Bowen stops them, believing that the bomb is the priority. Marks convinces the others of his innocence and has them move the bomb to the rear and surround it with luggage to direct the blast outward, while everybody moves upfront. Marks urges Rice to follow explosive protocol and descend from 30,000 to 8,000 feet as the current pressure differential will destroy the airplane if the bomb explodes, although the escorting jets refuse to let Rice deviate from his course.
Watching the earlier video, Marks notices Bowen planting the phone on Wheeler, implicating Bowen as the mastermind of the murders. White reveals himself as Bowen's accomplice. Bowen reveals that his father was killed in the September 11 attacks and blames the U.S. for not improving their security enough to prevent future similar attacks. Their goal was to frame Marks as a terrorist, thus ruining the reputation of the Air Marshals Service to force the U.S. to create stronger security laws. Marks persuades White (who was in it for the money) to try to disarm the bomb. Bowen, who wishes to die on the plane in a suicide mission, double-crosses White and shoots him. Rice rapidly descends the aircraft to 8,000 feet, giving Marks the opportunity to kill Bowen. White regains consciousness and attacks Marks, but the bomb detonates, killing him and blowing open the back of the plane. Despite the damage, Rice barely lands the plane in Iceland with no additional loss of life. Marks is praised as a hero and exonerated, where it is also implied that he and Summers might begin a relationship.
Commento critico (a cura di PATRIZIA FERRETTI)
Con Non-Stop Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan) e Liam Neeson tornano a collaborare a tre anni di distanza da Unknown-Senza identità . E torneranno a farlo più tardi (2018) con L’uomo sul treno-The Commuter. Un thriller più muscolare che psicologico, questo Non-Stop, per quanto il volto di Liam Neeson, qui tradotto nell’agente federale William ‘Bill’ Marks, rifletta da solo, in maniera del tutto indipendente, eppur sinergica a personaggio e storia, tormento e tensioni interiori. Fin dalle prime battute Neeson dice già molto del suo Bill, quando in un giorno di pioggia battente, all’interno dell’abitacolo della sua auto, corregge il suo caffè con una buona dose di alcool, tentando subito dopo di nasconderne ogni traccia con uno spray, mentre carezza la foto di una bambina sul sedile accanto. Ma è un qualcosa che resta appeso al cuore del personaggio prima che si renda manifesta l’enorme disgrazia che lo ha investito: la morte della sua
bambina Olivia per leucemia, la destituzione dall’incarico per alcoolismo, con annessi e connessi. Un background indubbiamente più che tormentato, costellato di lacerazioni profonde, di quelle che si rinnovano ogni volta che Bill/Neeson scorge per strada tutta la bellezza e l’amore che c’è in un abbraccio, magari tra un padre e sua figlia. Ma non è questo, purtroppo, l’epicentro di Non-Stop, deviato invece sull’aereo di cui, reintegrato da poco nell’incarico lavorativo, Bill/Neeson è responsabile della sicurezza. Aereo dove, tra i vari passeggeri, c’è anche una donna affascinante che lesina un posto vicino al finestrino: la ragione sarà spiegata più tardi da lei stessa, e non è di poco conto. Lei è Jen (una luminosissima Julianne Moore), proprio al fianco di Bill/Neeson, con cui, contro ogni più imprevedibile previsione, si ritroverà a collaborare, per la salvezza di tutti i passeggeri a bordo dell’aereo, tra cui una bambina, in viaggio per incontrare il
padre. Bambina che Bill/Neeson sosterrà a più riprese.
Secondo commento critico (a cura di SCOTT FOUNDAS, www.variety.com)
ACTION STAR LIAM NEESON RETEAMS WITH 'UNKNOWN' DIRECTOR JAUME COLLET-SERRA FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF PSEUDO-HITCHCOCKIAN HIJINKS.
Continuing his prodigious run of duosyllabic, Euro-financed action movies, Liam Neeson is back with a gun in his hand and a weary grimace on his long Irish mug in “Non-Stop,†a sometimes inspired, mostly serviceable doomed-airliner thriller that reunites its star with “Unknown†director Jaume Collet-Serra for another round of pseudo-Hitchcockian hijinks. Lacking anywhere near as clever as script this time, Neeson and Collet-Serra put this wronged-man programmer dutifully through its paces, with plenty of the gruff machismo and close-quarters grappling that have made the 61-year-old actor a late-career global action star. (Can an “Expendables†cameo be far in the future?) Turnstiles should click briskly for this Studiocanal/Joel Silver co-production, which opens overseas today, 48 hours ahead of its Stateside bow.
It’s easy to imagine that “Non-Stop†was pitched as “’Unknown’ on an airplane,†with Neeson
once again spending most of the running time trying to convince people that he is who he says he is — in this case, the federal air marshal trying to root out a hijacker, as opposed to being the hijacker himself. But the script, credited to tyro scribes John W. Richardson, Chris Roach and Ryan Engle, also bears more than a glancing resemblance to 2005’s “Flightplan,†in which Jodie Foster’s grieving widow becomes convinced that someone has kidnapped her young daughter in the middle of a transatlantic jumbo-jet flight. There, Peter Sarsgaard was the seemingly benevolent air marshal who turned out to be a raging psycho intent on turning the plane into a giant WMD; here, someone who perhaps saw that movie is trying to frame Neeson’s Bill Marks to appear the same way.
When we first see Marks, sitting in his car outside JFK on a rainy, wintry day, the
bottle of Jim Beam in his hand tells us he’s a man with a troubled/tragic past that will inevitably come home to roost somewhere around the movie’s third act. Collet-Serra then plows through the other scene-setting details in similarly expedient fashion, introducing an “Airportâ€-worthy cast of passengers that includes a frazzled businesswoman (Julianne Moore), a tough New York cop (Corey Stoll), a thirtysomething slacker dude (Scoot McNairy), a Muslim doctor (Omar Metwally) just waiting to be racially profiled, and the de rigueur unaccompanied minor. The only real surprise: not a priest or a nun anywhere in sight. By 10 minutes in, the movie is airborne, and by 15, Marks has received the first in a series of anonymous text messages (sent over the plane’s secure network) stating that someone on board will be killed every 20 minutes until $150 million is transferred into a designated bank account. In a sure
sign of our inflationary times, “Flightplan’s†criminal mastermind only asked for a mere $50 million.
One of the consistent pleasures of airplane movies, at least for frequent flyers, lies in seeing the fictional airline names and logos dreamed up by movie production designers, along with the simulated aircraft themselves, their rows and aisles invariably enlarged to accommodate the camera’s passage. (In the movies, every seat is an Economy Comfort seat.) Here, we’re on board a British Aqualantic 767 bound for Heathrow, and it comes equipped with a crew whose members, all too plausibly, initially dismiss the threatening messages as a hoax. (They include captain Linus Roache, co-pilot Jason Butler Harner, and flight attendants Michelle Dockery and Lupita Nyong’o, who has precious little to do in a role she clearly filmed before anyone had seen “12 Years a Slave.â€) Then someone dies right on schedule, and it’s Marks who has their blood
on his hands. He also, it turns out, has his name on that aforementioned bank account.
From this point forward, viewers are best advised to make with their disbelief as one does with oversized cabin baggage: Check it at the door. The ultimate revelations about Neeson’s semi-amnesiac “Unknown†character notwithstanding, we sense from the start of “Non-Stop†that Marks is a good guy who’s been set up, and for a while the film sustains a reasonably fun game of whodunit, as the body count rises and the hair-trigger Marks begins interrogating passengers with a bedside manner that makes “Taken’s†Bryan Mills seem like Florence Nightingale. That even an air marshal could manage to get away with such behavior in an age when commercial airline passengers have bum-rushed and hog-tied flight disruptors for far less violent offenses stretches the movie’s already elastic sense of plausible reality to the breaking point more than
once. But even in the movie’s most ridiculous moments, Collet-Serra keeps the pacing brisk and knows how to divert our attention with a well-timed bit of comic relief. Sensing a potential passenger riot on his hands, Marks quells the fire by announcing that Aqualantic is offering everyone free international travel for a full year.
A protege of producer Joel Silver, the Spanish-born Collet-Serra (who already has a third Neeson pic, “Run All Night,†in the can for next February) is an able-bodied genre craftsman with a love of old-fashioned plot mechanics and an unusual generosity to actors, who are afforded more quiet, character-revealing moments in his movies than such fare typically allows. By its very design an exercise in claustrophobia, “Non-Stop†eventually runs out of places to go, and builds to a big third-act reveal that’s at once so ludicrous and heavy-handed that it sucks all the thrust out of the
movie’s jet engines. It’s also the first of Collet-Serra’s movies in which so many good actors are put to such little use, including Moore, who like most of her fellow passengers is there mainly to arouse passing suspicion and get roughed up at Neeson’s hands.
But Neeson himself is a compelling presence throughout, even if we’ve now seen him play this sort of lone man of action at least a half-dozen times. Typecasting isn’t necessarily a liability if you’re an actor with Neeson’s knack for sauntering through a scene as though his body were weighing heavily on his shoulders, and woe be to all who obstruct his path. It’s been widely noted how “unlikely†it is for the “Schindler’s List†Oscar nominee to have been reborn, close to retirement age, as a latter-day Charles Bronson or Clint Eastwood. But it’s age, weariness and disappointment that are precisely Neeson’s greatest virtues. As
he kicks butt onscreen, he seems a man hardened by real experience, not by hours spent in the gym.
Reunited with most of his “Unknown†crew, Collet-Serra delivers a technically proficient package, aided by the moody cabin lighting of d.p. Flavio Labiano and a bassy, propulsive John Ottman score.
