In Knight and Day, Cameron Diaz falls for Tom Cruise, and even contemplates joining the mile-high club with him. All based on a quick conversation before they boarded the plane, and some good flirting on the plane. You can see from the photo above, she's not leaning toward him, and seems to be able to hear him quite easily. I just flew across the country on 3 different planes. And on none of them could I hear almost anything from the people next to me. We're forced to believe that Diaz and Cruise have a quiet, discrete conversation that ultimately cements their relationship while a plane is roaring. The part that really bothers me is that in the next scene, Diaz is in the bathroom while Cruise kills all the assassins on the plane - with guns, knives, shouting, etc. Diaz hears nothing because she's in an airplane bathroom, where you usually can't hear someone knocking. They can't have it both ways! Either a plane is loud and you can't hear people, or it's quiet and you get to have an intimate conversation.
In the second example that bothers me, Red Eye sees Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy trying to be very discrete on a plane, even as he threatens her and forces her to behave a certain way. They don't lean toward each other to be discrete, but at the same time, they WHISPER! Who needs to whisper on a plane?! Cillian is trying to remain calm and cool, proving he's in charge, but McAdams doesn't scream either. They're on a PLANE, scream, complain, etc. I won't spoil how she does get back at him, but it's worth watching the movie for that alone. So the big thing getting under my skin is any acting on planes - they seem so unrealistic. How hard would it be to make it seem realistic - I'm not talking about actually making the really loud noise in the background, but at least make it clear they will have trouble hearing each other.
Any examples of them doing it right? Let me know - or other examples that get under your skin?
Great post. Personally, I think the entire idea of flirting/scoring on a plane is ridiculous. Most people dress-down so that they are comfortable. Its awkward to talk -let alone flirt - without factoring in the people around you. (E.g in a three-seat, and you flirt, a third person will inevitably hear what you're saying) and getting drunk on a plane, as we know in BRIDESMAIDS, can sometimes make the experience that much less enjoyable. I think its one of those fantasy situations personally which rarely - if ever - happens.
ReplyDeleteI've never thought about the plane conversation thing before, but you're right, Jess. Before I was responsible for a child on an airplane, I'd try to listen to music or watch a dvd and have to turn the volume all the way up to hear anything. I normally just gave up and did logic puzzles.
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