Check your cynicism and plausibility meter at the gate, because Non-Stop is fraught with narrative turbulence. So take it with a grain of salt, and enjoy it for what it is… a guilty pleasure movie.
Serious-actor-turned-action-star Liam Neeson plays Bill Marks, a U.S. Air Marshal who is set up to take the fall for murder and hijacking aboard a transatlantic flight from New York to London. He gets a series of text messages en route, indicating someone will die on board the flight every 20 minutes until $150 million is transferred into an off-shore account. Let the countdown… and the body count… begin.
The movie is somewhat reminiscent of airplane disaster movies of the past, but updated with the tools of the modern world – like cellphones, live feeds on planes, and a 24-hour news cycle. It’s a suspense thriller designed to leave you wondering who’s telling the truth, and who can be trusted among the cast of characters – including the Marshal himself, his seatmate played by Julianne Moore, the flight’s crew, or any of the dozens of stereotypical passengers.
There’s something almost inexplicably appealing about Neeson as a flawed hero. He keeps Non-Stop engaging and entertaining, even when the plot is veering off-course. It may not rise to the level of his surprise turn in Taken, but Neeson definitely makes age (61) a non-issue in the action-movie casting department.
So, if you can withstand a few outrageous gaping holes in story – and fuselage – then buckle up and enjoy the Non-Stop ride.