People are missing the point of the film... 'bystander apathy'
I think people missed the point of the film. I loved the film. 9/10. I thought it was one of the best thrillers of that year. The complaints of the film is just ridiculous.
You guys say that "Nobody saw her! That's impossible! At least one person should've seen her get kidnapped!" NEWS FLASH: Nobody did. Even if it could be 1 in 100000000000 chance of her not being seen, it did happen. You just have to accept what happens in movies. I still question myself on why people liked The Game when it's just as ridiculous as Flightplan. It's mind boggling.
And perhaps you can even make a whole social commentary on it. Do people really care if a child has gone missing? If you looked through the film, you would see the adults just did not care that a kid is missing at all. "Maybe they should put on a bell around kids' necks..." or something like that. It's true. In real life, I sure would not as hell cared if a child or a dog is missing unless it's my own. That's human nature for you. I'm sure many people would not care either.
You see those social experiments, one in which a homeless guy faints on the floor. But in the streets of Chicago, people continue to walk passed by, not worrying if he's going to die nor calling the ambulance for him. You see the news where some innocent lives died because people just don't not care. In the hospital, a woman asking for help faints on the floor but the doctors just walk past by until like 30 minutes later, when somebody finally checks on her, she's already dead.
You might even make another social commentary that people are just too busy with their own lives to see what's going on around them. There's one scene in which the family in front of Foster's character are just arguing so loudly. They aren't even aware of what's going on around them. Is that not a legitimate argument for people not seeing the child getting kidnapped? Also, some of the passengers were bored, sleepy, etc. Aren't those also legitimate excuses? If not, then I've got nothing else to say.
But I'll just say this: The film was fantastic. It still is. The plot is "air tight," like Roger Ebert said. Who cares if nobody seen the child being taken? That's not the point of the film. You guys have to realize that things aren't as ridiculous as they may appear because what happened in this film may very well be a real life situation. It's sad that it doesn't get the appreciation and praise it deserves.
UPDATE #1: Ha! I found it! It's called bystander apathy. You can read more about it here: http://www.uncommon-knowledge.co.uk/articles/bystander-apathy.html
Bystander apathy is when witnesses of a problematic event do nothing when they could or should.
Here are some eye popping videos I mentioned earlier in my post:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRdtKfvUu0w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwN_Jejh1jU&feature=fvw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIvGIwLcIuw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSsPfbup0ac&feature=related