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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

‘7500’: Gordon-Levitt faces terror in the sky

Dan Webster

One of the movie that we reviewed for "Movies 101" was the thriller "7500." Following is the separate review of the film that I wrote for Spokane Public Radio:

Flying is kind of far from my mind these days, though I can’t blame that feeling totally on the COVID-19 pandemic. Even before it was deemed to be unhealthy – even foolhardy – to fly in an airplane with passengers, some of whom are unmasked and sitting in some cases as close as a foot away and all of you breathing the same recycled air, the likelihood of long lines, cramped seats, bad food and delayed flights were a regular part of the airline experience.

So imagine my surprise when, while watching the movie “7500,” I was reminded of what used to be considered the biggest threat to air travel. And, no, I’m not talking about the computer problems involving the infamous Boeing 737 Max or mysterious disappearances such as that of the still-unfound Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

I’m talking about the threat of terrorist hijackings.

“7500,” which was written and directed by German-born filmmaker Patrick Vollrath, is a taut, 93-minute-long thriller that is set almost entirely – save for a brief prologue and the film’s final few seconds – in the cockpit of an Airbus A319. Taking his film’s title from the code used to denote a hijacking, Vollrath introduces us to Tobias Ellis (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt), an American first officer working a night flight from Berlin to Paris.

Sitting aside the flight’s captain, Michael Lutzman (played by Carlo Kitzlinger, a real-life former pilot), Tobias goes through all the mundane, if important, pre-flight protocols that give “7500” its sense of authenticity. Everything changes, though, when minutes into the flight, three men charge the cockpit door and one manages to attack and stab Michael.

In the melee, Tobias, too, is wounded, though he manages to subdue one attacker and shut the door on the others. Then he’s left to deal with one unconscious hijacker, a desperately injured captain, a bleeding arm and a plane heading toward the ground while the other hijackers pound on the door and demand to be let in or they’ll kill the passengers and flight attendants.

In this situation, Vollrath is posing the question: What would WE do? And that query becomes especially urgent when the hijackers begin making good on their threats and, as we learned early on, Tobias has a particularly intimate relationship with one of the crew members.

“7500” is writer-director Vollrath’s first feature film, following a succession of shorts that includes his 2015 Oscar-nominated live-action short “Everything Will Be Okay.” That German-language film, too, has a claustrophobic feel as it involves a divorced father who kidnaps his young daughter and ends up holding her in a hotel room – and has some of the most intense closing minutes of any film I’ve ever seen.

Still, little is more claustrophobic than the cockpit of Vollrath’s Airbus, which gradually becomes littered with bodies – only some of which are still breathing. Added to that, Tobias’ situation becomes increasingly desperate as he tries to fly the plane, tend to his own wounds (physical AND emotional) and talk to those on the ground who direct him to make an emergency landing – all while that incessant pounding continues.

Gordon-Levitt, is one of those one-time child actors – he’s likely best known for the sitcom “3rd Rock From the Sun” – whose career was made over through his performances in such neo-noirs as 2005’s “Brick” and 2007’s “The Lookout.” Those films led to roles in much bigger movies such as Christopher Nolan’s 2010 thriller “Inception,” and producing and even directing credits (such as 2013’s “Don Jon”).  He’s the perfect casting choice here, believable both in his quiet moments as a professional aviator and then as a harried character facing the difficult consequences of a proverbial Hobson’s choice.

If there is a criticism to be made of “7500,” it comes mainly from the film’s avoidance of larger issues. Yes, the terrorist intentions of the would-be hijackers are philosophically based. Yet they serve mostly as the overall MacGuffin that Vollrath uses to fuel the film’s pulse-pounding action – and about as significant as the corpses left strewn on the jetliner’s entryway.

Still, if you’re looking for an intense hour and a half, “7500” might be what you want. If nothing else, you won’t be required to wear a mask – or made fun of if you choose to don one anyway.