The
flight attendant
said
no smoking on this
flight...
We
bet this film was never chosen for the in-flight movie! There’s a
reason why the villain, Charles Rane (Bruce), is called the “Rane of
Terror.” Fortunately even the FBI is probably not dumb enough in
real life to actually allow a known terrorist who has masterminded four
terrorist attacks already and has escaped from the clutches of the law
umpteen times to be transported on a commercial airline. Or are they?
Well, no matter, this is fiction and the plot “conceit” (as it
sometimes called) is just that. But the Federal Marshals, FAA and FBI
are no match for Mr. Rane; he already has his people in place on Flight
163 by the time he is escorted on in handcuffs. Wow, handcuffs, that
would be reassuring. Really make us want to be on that flight.
Fortunately for the future of
nervous flyers, Rane does meet his match
in airline security expert John Cutter (Wesley Snipes), who
happens, quite unwillingly, to be on the flight. He’s in Seat 57. He’s
got a bad attitude, a bad mouth and now a b-a-d opponent. The duel
begins but doesn’t end till a few more acts of violence turn Flight 163
into your worst flying nightmare. Pass the Dramamine and Prozac, please.
This
was America’s introduction to Bruce Payne and what a dramatic
intro! Bruce plays psycho terrorist Rane to icy perfection, with
scary, searing blue eyes that pierce like laser beams, a glare that
would stop a 250-pound football player in his tracks, and a droll wit
that is all the scarier coming from a character who gives new meaning
to the clinical diagnosis “anti-social personality disorder.”
When the flight attendant, for example, asks
Rane how he wants his
steak, he replies with cold but obvious relish, “Bloody.” His father,
it seems, never let him play with toys and now his father is dead.
Yikes. Let’s head for ToysRUs and load up. He delivers another
morbidly droll line to Marti, the attractive flight attendant, but we
can’t repeat that one on a PG rated site.
Bruce’s
intense performance as the deranged but (and we hate to admit this in a
character so vile) strangely charming terrorist was haled by many
critics. “Bruce Payne really has the spooky part down well,” says Colin
Jackson at dvdmg.com, ”his Rane is one of
the creepiest villains I've seen in a while.” We agree. Bruce is
one of the few actors we know of who can come across both creepy and
charming at the same time and is all the scarier because of that
unexpected combo. And have we mentioned that he is also utterly
gorgeous in the role? Talk about approach-avoidance
conflict. But back to the critics. “Passenger 57 features a
sensational villain,” writes DVDBarn.com. “Bruce Payne in the ROLE OF
HIS LIFE as terrorist Charles Rane…As good as Snipes is as Cutter,
Bruce Payne nearly steals the show, because from the time he appears in
the film's opening scene, Bruce Payne turns Charles Rane's every line
into Shakespeare, and Rane's every act of violence into a threat of
something worse.”
A reviewer at StoreWideSearch.com is a person after our own hearts. "In
my opinion, this film is a 99.9% success," she writes. "The favorite
has to be the icy-cool role of Bruce Payne (Charles Rane), who fits
into the character perfectly using dialogue and facial features. Just
one thing...BRUCE PAYNE IS GORGEOUS!" See what excellent taste
she has. There
you have it; we are not the only ones who think Bruce Payne’s villains
makes others pale in comparison. That’s why we think
Bruce is the
perfect candidate for the next James Bond villain (see Bruce as Bond Bad Bloke). Bond villains need to
be intense and larger than life. No one can deliver that better than
Bruce Payne.
Addendum: We
used to call such wackos “psychopaths” or sociopaths” but now
“anti-social personality disorder” is the official diagnosis category
in the “Bible” of the psychotherapy community, the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual, affectionately called the DSM. An "anti-social
personality" is
characterized by willingness to lie and manipulate others without guilt
or remorse. (Forensic psychologists still call them psychopaths) Such a
person may be willing to kill others without a
twinge of conscience because they have no conscience. Think Charles
Manson or Ted Bundy. Think run away as fast as you can.
We
bet this film was never chosen for the in-flight movie! There’s a
reason why the villain, Charles Rane (Bruce), is called the “Rane of
Terror.” Fortunately even the FBI is probably not dumb enough in
real life to actually allow a known terrorist who has masterminded four
terrorist attacks already and has escaped from the clutches of the law
umpteen times to be transported on a commercial airline. Or are they?
Well, no matter, this is fiction and the plot “conceit” (as it
sometimes called) is just that. But the Federal Marshals, FAA and FBI
are no match for Mr. Rane; he already has his people in place on Flight
163 by the time he is escorted on in handcuffs. Wow, handcuffs, that
would be reassuring. Really make us want to be on that flight. 
scary, searing blue eyes that pierce like laser beams, a glare that
would stop a 250-pound football player in his tracks, and a droll wit
that is all the scarier coming from a character who gives new meaning
to the clinical diagnosis “anti-social personality disorder.”
When the
flight attendant, for example, asks
Rane how he wants his
steak, he replies with cold but obvious relish, “Bloody.” His father,
it seems, never let him play with toys and now his father is dead.
Yikes. Let’s head for ToysRUs and load up. He delivers another
morbidly droll line to Marti, the attractive flight attendant, but we
can’t repeat that one on a PG rated site. 
the creepiest villains I've seen in a while.” We agree. Bruce is
one of the few actors we know of who can come across both creepy and
charming at the same time and is all the scarier because of that
unexpected combo. And have we mentioned that he is also utterly
gorgeous in the role? Talk about approach-avoidance
conflict. But back to the critics. “Passenger 57 features a
sensational villain,” writes DVDBarn.com. “Bruce Payne in the ROLE OF
HIS LIFE as terrorist Charles Rane…As good as Snipes is as Cutter,
Bruce Payne nearly steals the show, because from the time he appears in
the film's opening scene, Bruce Payne turns Charles Rane's every line
into Shakespeare, and Rane's every act of violence into a threat of
something worse.”
Bruce is the
perfect candidate for the next James Bond villain (see Bruce as Bond Bad Bloke). Bond villains need to
be intense and larger than life. No one can deliver that better than
Bruce Payne. 
