Amazon Film’ 7500 : Film Review
7500, the emergency code for an airplane hijacking, is the title of the feature debut for writer/director Patrick Vollrath. An Oscar-nominated and much lauded filmmaker of shorts, Vollrath and his lead, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, prove fine instincts for building tension while maintaining understatement in a film that probably just shouldn’t have been made.
Gordon-Levitt plays Tobias Ellis, co-pilot of a German aircraft on its way to Paris. When Muslim terrorists attempt to overtake the plane, Tobias finds himself in the unenviable position of refusing their demands and witnessing the havoc they wreak.
The strongest scenes often rely upon its awareness of space and footage. When Tobias and the pilot Michael (Carlo Kitzlinger) enter the claustrophobic cockpit, as the camera crosscuts to the narrow doorway leading to the main cabin, the tight shots welcomes dread. Upon Tobias’ girlfriend Gökce (Aylin Tezel) – who he shares a two-year old son with – coming to greet him, viewers are made aware of the cockpit’s struggle to fit three people at once. The space allows the viewer’s eyes to travel. And what one notices is the attention to detail in Gordon-Levitt and Kitzlinger’s performances. At home in the space, they’re not merely punching random flashing buttons, they waft an air of knowledge and control.
This isn’t a true story. Vollrath could have imagined absolutely anyone to be hijacking this plane, and the subtlety of the filmmaking feels even more insidious because of his choice. No swelling strings, glib one-liners, flying flags or bombast mark this as pandering white supremacy.
7500 features great crafts – and a partly unhinged yet solid performance from Gordon-Levitt – the scope of what could be possible isn’t present, here. Vollrath relies on tired tropes that lack depth and nuance beyond white man good, Middle Eastern man either vicious or naive. At its best, 7500 is Captain Phillips light. The problem is that it’s rarely at its best.
