On Screen: “Carry-On”
Carry-On
With so many of us planning to fly this holiday season, Netflix’s explosive thriller — evoking memories of “Die Hard” — “Carry-On” couldn’t be timelier.
It’s Christmas Eve at LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) and the rush is on. Thousands of travelers are loading their bags onto conveyor belts, eager to pass through security and board their designated flights.
For 30 year-old Ethan Kopek (Taron Egerton) and his unexpectedly pregnant girlfriend Nora (Sofia Carson) it’s a celebratory day. After being rejected at the police academy, Ethan’s been working as a low-level TSA agent just so he can have lunch every day with Nora, a supervisor at the same terminal.
Meanwhile, a mysterious Traveler (Jason Bateman) is determined to get a dangerous bag through LAX security. To make sure all goes as planned, he has a sniper (Theo Rossi) remotely watching from a stolen van in the nearby garage.
After switching shifts with a colleague, hoping to secure a promotion, unsuspecting Ethan is told to listen carefully to menacing instructions given through a discreet earbud dropped off at his screening station.
When a particular black bag adorned with a red ribbon passes through his x-ray scanner, “All you have to do … is nothing,” he’s told. If Ethan doesn’t comply, Nora’s life is threatened, along with everyone else in the airport.
At the same time, the LAPD has been alerted to a mysterious fire which is being investigated by detective Elena Cole (Danielle Deadwyler) who somehow ties it to the treacherous plot unfolding at LAX.
Formulaically scripted by T.J. Fixman, duly directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (“Non-Stop,” “The Shallows”), and expertly photographed by Lyle Vincent, this is a sleek, suspenseful surveillance story with exciting chase scenes staged throughout the airport and deep into the bowels of baggage sorting.
Like making amiable Hugh Grant a psychotic killer in “Heretic,” designating likable Jason Bateman as the villain is clever casting. And Taron Egerton delivers on the leading man promise he showed in “Kingsman.”
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Carry-On” is an escapist, stressful 7, streaming on Netflix.
Susan Granger is a product of Hollywood. Her natural father, S. Sylvan Simon, was a director and producer at M.G.M. and Columbia Pictures. Her adoptive father, Armand Deutsch, produced movies at M.G.M.
As a child, Susan appeared in movies with Abbott & Costello, Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Margaret O’Brien, and Lassie. She attended Mills College in California, studying journalism with Pierre Salinger, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in journalism.
During her adult life, Susan has been on radio and television as an anchorwoman and movie and drama critic, syndicating her reviews and articles around the world, including Video Librarian. She has appeared on American Movie Classics and Turner Classic Movies. In 2017, her book 150 Timeless Movies was published by Hannacroix Creek Books. Her website is www.susangranger.com.