Share Your Shame: Passengers (2008)

Claire (Anne Hathaway) is a therapist assigned to help a group of plane crash survivors’ deal with their trauma. One of her patients Eric (Patrick Wilson) refuses the group therapy, and while constantly hitting on Claire, he continues to receive one to one therapy at his apartment. He seems to know personal things about her that he shouldn’t. Has the trauma of the crash induced in him some form of ESP?

As the group sessions progress, differences in the events of the plane crash arise, Claire makes inquiries and it appears that the airline is attempting a cover-up to prevent a possible lawsuit. Meanwhile, one by one, the patients mysteriously disappear. As Claire is torn between her growing feelings for Eric and their professional relationship she is determined to find the truth behind the plane crash.

There’s Claire’s boss/mentor (played by Andre Braugher), and Dianne Wiest plays Claire’s kooky, slightly interfering yet helpful, neighbour. David Morse plays a cagey airline official who appears to know more than he lets on.

Sounds kinda good so far, huh? Sounds like the beginnings of good old conspiracy theory drama, doesn’t it? Well, it doesn’t get any better.

For a start, there are too many threads running through the plot and none of them are strong enough to hold it all together. The dialogue doesn’t drive it, neither do the actors’ performances, there’s no tension, empathy or conviction. It might have been a better as a TV mini-series, but I doubt it. There’s very little drama, some mills and boon romance, and absolutely fuck all mystery. Despite the bit parts by genuinely talented actors, ‘Passengers’ never gets up of its half-baked, part romance/part ‘supernatural’, cliché driven, ass.

Now, I started out writing this review with the mind not to reveal the twist, but the twist is so poorly and slowly revealed that you’ve already guessed it a third of the way through. Also, at the very mention of similarly themed films, (‘The Others’) and you’ve got the twist.

Yes, Claire is already dead! In fact, everyone is dead. From the very beginning, all of the characters through the entire film are dead. The therapy sessions, Claire’s neighbour, her mentor, everyone she encounters, including Eric’s dead childhood dog, are all part of a cosmic get together of the dearly departed to help Claire, and the others, to find their way to the afterlife.

All the other characters just disappear leaving everything behind, however, our hopelessly in love pair, Claire and Eric, sail away on Eric’s lovely yacht into the distance!

There is a reason I hadn’t watched this before –it’s utter shit in every sense. I’d recommend watching The Others, again.

Blake Lewis