Courtesy of www.cinematoria.com
Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Kelly Reilly and Bruce Greenwood
What It’s About: An alcoholic airplane pilot must come to terms with his addiction after a disastrous plane crash.
Rated R (for drug and alcohol abuse, language, sexuality/nudity and an intense action sequence)
Runtime: 138 minutes
By Aaron Sanders, Diversions Editor
Leading man Denzel Washington has been an acting force for decades now. Roles in films like The Hurricane, Remember the Titans and American Gangster have made him a household name, but it was his Academy Award-winning portrayal of a corrupt DEA officer in Training Day (2001) that guaranteed him a spot in the acting hall of fame. His latest character, an alcoholic named Wip Whitaker, proves the acclaimed actor is indeed deserving of his title.
Denzel Washington’s newest vehicle is Flight, a harrowing story about an airplane pilot named Wip Whitaker who finds himself in middle of nightmare when his commercial airplane, filled with 104 passengers, falls apart at 30,000 feet. Whitaker manages to land the plane by inverting it and crash landing in a field, causing only four passenger fatalities. Whitaker is perceived by the media as a hero, at least for a while. Soon after the crash, investigations of the accident reveal that he was intoxicated at the time of the incident. There is no question that the cause of the disaster was a technical flaw, but does that make his being drunk punishable? This question, while still relevant to the overall story, is not the centerpiece of the film. Instead, Flight depicts the ethical struggle of an alcoholic, a pathological liar and a man lost in a web of his own vices.
Courtesy of www.beyondhollywood.com
Whitaker is by no means a hero. Sure, he does everything humanly possible to save his plane and its passengers, but does he really care about the people around him? Whitaker is a reckless mess of a human being. He openly drinks and drives, snorts cocaine, abandons his wife and son and engages in sexual relations with colleagues. In fact, Washington tries his hardest to make Whitaker his most unlikable character to date but does it with a cold subtlety that a less capable actor would struggle with.
Whitaker faces an ethical battle between whether or not to publically admit his addiction or continue to resist the accusation against him, which, if proven true, would guarantee him life in prison. Near the end of the film, before the climactic court hearing in which Whitaker’s fate is decided, he is enticed by the very thing that got him into his predicament: a miniature bottle of vodka. This bottle of vodka stands for much more than just a bottle of vodka. It stands for the internal struggle to continue on the path to recovery and righteousness or relapse back to addiction. His decision to drink that vodka or not I will not say.
As mentioned earlier, Washington makes this movie. There are several other details like the brilliantly executed plane-crash sequence or John Goodman’s scene-stealing performance as Whitaker’s drug-dealing best friend that contribute to the overall excellence of the film, but it is Washington, and Washington alone that propels Flight to soaring heights.
Flight is sure to attract many awards, especially for lead Denzel Washington, and is a definite contender for Best Picture, or at the very least Best Actor, at the Academy Awards.
10/10