PASSENGERS (now playing at home where your kid just dumped a bowl of oatmeal over his head)

I wanted to see Passengers because it was touted as a film about people who disappear. I often think it would be great if about half the world's population would disappear--you and me excepted, of course. I wouldn't want to kill them off--just transfer them to a different dimension where they'd probably have more fun anyway.

That's because all of the world's MAJOR PROBLEMS can be traced back to overpopulation: POLLUTION (too many cars, factories, and cows farting--injecting their gases into the atmosphere). DISEASE (too many people spreading it around). THE ECONOMY(too many people, not enough jobs) and so on. But I digress.

And NOW, back to our story!

Anne Hathaway stars as Claire Summers, a psychologist who is called in to counsel a handful of survivors from a major plane crash. Eric (Patrick Wilson) is the one that she's drawn to, and the individual who presents the most perplexing challenge for her. Claire tries all the tricks of her trade to get him to open up to her along the lines of the standard patient-therapist relationship. But Eric wants to relate to her on a more personal level. He wants her to see him (and herself, in the process) as a real person. Claire wants to keep her professional distance, and the awkwardness she displays in attempting to do so reveals HER as the one who needs to learn a thing or three about being an authentic human being. If there's any substantive message in this movie--and it's a good one for those in the counseling profession--there it is. But I digress again.

NOW...back to our story again!

There's a guy with the airline who seems to be trying to hide something about the real cause of the plane crash.

There's a strange guy who starts hanging around Claire (she sees him through the window, but he doesn't have binoculars, so he's not just a perv).

There's a strange dog who starts shadowing Eric, barking like he's trying to tell the guy something (other than FEED ME).

And some of the survivors begin to disappear.

There's another wildly popular movie from a few years back that is ripped off by this film--but I can't tell you the name of it...or even who starred in it...somebody STOP me...I WANT to, but I just CAN'T...because if you knew the film I'm talking about you'd catch on to the surprise ending of Passengers. So just see this flick, then let me know that you've figured out the title of the other film and I'll give you a gold star!

Rip-off aside, Passengers is an entrancing love story set inside a mystery (with a great soundtrack by Edward Shearmur) that will hold you in its grip until the end.

GRADE: B +