Claustrophobic action Hitchcock would have appreciated

Rating: 7/10 (28 December 2015)

I am very surprised that Alfred Hitchcock's 1959 thriller North by Northwest doesn't get mentioned in reviews of Non-Stop. Here Liam Neeson plays a character whose situation is as maddening as that of Cary Grant in the Hitchcock classic. He is unexpectedly framed and treated by the world at large as a suspect for serious crimes. For most of the film, the protagonist of both films tries to sweat it out but has no clue whatsoever as to who is framing him and for what possible reason. Main difference between the films is that Neeson sweats in the confined but familiar environment of a transatlantic jet. No escape through the corn field this time! North by Northwest wasn't marketed as an action film, but by 1959 standards it was pretty much non-stop action. It is the mystery and the accompanying suspense that makes the film in both cases. True motives of the villains in the Hitchcock film have always seemed somewhat nonsensical to me, but who ever cared? In Non-Stop the point is who is pulling the strings, not really the why. I see the film as a refreshing twist in the already familiar hijack formula, well written and acted, and the fact that the plot is not that plausible is a relief for all of us frequent fliers!