Fans of Oscar winning director Robert Zemeckis (FORREST
GUMP, CAST AWAY, BACK TO THE FUTURE) have been waiting impatiently for him to
step out of his decade-long fascination with motion-capture film (which has
produced THE POLAR EXPRESS, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, and BEOWULF) and get back to the
world of live-action. With FLIGHT, Zemeckis does just that with moderate
success, but forgets to bring along some extra jet-fuel which made his earlier work
and even his motion-capture films better than good.
Whip Whitaker (Denzel Washington) is an airline pilot with a
drinking problem. After a heavy bender, Whip snorts cocaine to sober up and
boards his flight for Atlanta, of which he is Captain. The flight encounters a
mechanical failure, and Whip pulls off a skilled and miraculous crash landing,
saving all but 6 of the 102 lives on board. After being hailed as a hero, Whip’s
toxicology report reflects his physical state (drunk), and he is faced with
many moral choices while facing his addiction denial.
FLIGHT spends a lot of time with Whip as he drinks and
stumbles and lies his way around the consequences of the flight and eventual
crash. He is eventually faced with some excellent moral choices which would
help him support his denial and get away from the incident without any prison
time (the feds tend to frown upon airline pilots flying drunk). Whip denies his
problem, storms out of AA meetings, and pushes away the people who try to help
him.
With that stage set, FLIGHT seems set for some excellent
drama. Unfortunately, the film never digs deep enough into the issues of
addiction, denial, and faith and only presents the tip of the iceberg. We see
Whip go through the motions, but never deep enough to really pull you in. Also,
for as much time as the film spends with Whip (there are only a handful of
scenes without him), we never really learn much more about him other than he
likes to drink and lie about it; it brings about an emotional detachment which
ultimately means who cares. That and the shallowness of the exploration of the
dramatic themes makes FLIGHT feel very routine and run-of-the-mill.
There is still a lot to enjoy about FLIGHT. It is funny, sad
and tragic in spurts, and Zemeckis does excellent work in crafting the film
together. His talent for picking the right music for the right time hasn’t lost
a beat, and he directs a spectacular performance out of Denzel Washington and
his excellent supporting cast (Don Cheadle, Bruce Greenwood, Kelly Reilly, and
a fantastic John Goodman). The real highlight of the film is the plane crash
itself, which runs nearly 10 minutes and will have anyone clenching their seats
in fear.
The shallowness of FLIGHT again makes it feel very routine,
and the ending can be seen coming from a mile above the Earth; it overall feels
like a movie made specifically to be shown at AA meetings and MADD/SADD
gatherings as it explores only just enough to get a message across. FLIGHT is a
trip you can walk away from, but not one you would be so eager to take again.
BOTTOM LINE: Rent it
We, four vadults in all, enjoyed this movie in spite of its being very harsh in many ways.
ReplyDeleteI also would have liked to see more air action after the crash scenes although I don't know how you could have worked that into the story line. Saw Denzel on a TV talk show. He was praised for looking so much like a real pilot and asked if, perhaps, he actually was.
His reply..."Im an actor." And, in our opinion, a prety good one in this flick.