Flight (2012) Directed by Robert Zemeckis. Starring: Nadine Velazquez, Denzel Washington and Carter Cabassa. IMDB says: “An airline pilot saves a flight from crashing, but an investigation into the malfunctions reveals something troubling.”
As a commercial airliner plummets to earth after a technical malfunction during a routine flight, veteran pilot Whip Whitaker (Denzel Washington) acts with unparalleled control and instinct to safely land the plane in an abandoned field. His actions prevent the demise of all but six of the passengers on board which is a remarkable feat considering the probability of survival in the event. It seems Whitaker is a hero, a man that took incredible action in the face of certain doom. But Whip Whitaker is also a “functioning” alcoholic which means that on the day of the flight he was both drunk and high. It’s a story of fiction but one that seems like it could have easily been ripped from a real news headline due to it’s scandalous nature and the overwhelming regularity in which drugs and alcohol plague the country. And that’s what Flight is really about. It’s a movie about addiction wrapped up in a provocative headline.
There are a few elements of Flight that I find particularly noteworthy. One thing that won’t go unnoticed is the phenomenal performance on display here with Denzel Washington. It’s not surprising to me at this point in his career that the man can and will turn in Oscar caliber performances but Washington owns the role and makes the character ten times more compelling than what is written in the script. It’s really his inclusion in the film that sets this movie apart and makes it worthy. He gives a performance that is universal and real, scarily imitating every drunk you might have known. Washington involves the viewer directly with his character’s battle to overcome addiction to drugs and alcohol with an intense level of authenticity. That brings me to my second point of interest. While there are certainty a lot of powerful films about addiction (films like Trainspotting, Requiem for a Dream and Traffic spring to mind quickly) Alcoholism is not an addiction often depicted so meticulously in film. Perhaps it’s not as incendiary as ‘harder’ drug use but the effects of alcohol are both far reaching and devastating. It was a painful and touching topic in the film, but one that felt completely necessary and worthwhile.
Unfortunately, there are a few missteps in the film that keep it from being spectacular. The major issue for me was the waning excitement from the film’s beginning to end where the movie traded in perceptible tension for melodrama. Exciting pop music is traded for an overly sentimental score and by the time you reach the film’s midway mark the concept of God’s involvement in the event has been less than subtly mentioned over a handful of times. One primary plot line not even hinted at in the film’s lovely trailer is the story of a female addict that connects with Whip and serves as a love interest layered within the story. I wasn’t interested in her or her story at all during the entire film and felt like it wasn’t necessary for her character to exist. In addition to the female addict character, there are a lot of other scenes shoe horned into the story involving Whitaker and various individuals involved in the plane crash aftermath. A few scenes play better than others but most quickly took me out of the story.
General audiences will be able to easily connect to the story in Flight and that’s good because it’s one worth telling. Issues aside, I found it to be a refreshing blockbuster drama because of it’s originality and subject matter. It’s a solid choice to check out if not for the story but for Denzel’s performance.
FTS SCORE: 74%
Flight is out in theaters November 2nd.