100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 136: Flight

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Genre: Drama

Runtime: 138 minutes

Year: 2012

Starring: Denzel Washington, Kelly Reilly, Don Cheadle, Bruce Greenwood, John Goodman

Description: Airline pilot Whip Whitaker (Denzel Washington) saves almost all his passengers on his malfunctioning airliner which eventually crashed, but an investigation into the accident reveals something troubling.

Review: Director Robert Zemeckis has already earned his Hollywood status. Movies like “Back to the Future”, “Forrest Gump” and “Cast Away” are on his résumé, so we know what he’s capable of. With Denzel Washington in the lead role, “Flight” seems to be a guarantee for success.

The start of the film is amazing. Whip Whitaker is an experienced pilot with a big problem. He’s an alcoholic. Days in a row he has been flying to and from Atlanta and in between flights he spends his time in bed with his gorgeous stewardess, a bottle of gin and some coke. A couple of hours later he gets in the plane, still drunk. When his plane suffers a malfunction, his confidence and his qualities manage to avoid a major catastrophe. Whip is seen as a national hero, but some dark secrets are revealed.

The first fourty minutes of the film are engrossing and exciting, also thanks to Denzel Washington’s great acting. Even with his irresponsible behavior, he manages to win over your sympathy. However “Flight” isn’t a disaster movie, but a character study with a big moral. That moral is sort of forced on you more and more towards the end of the movie. That’s what this movie misses: cogency. When Whip meets former junkie Nicole and a dying cancer patient, the movie gets a depressed feel. Only John Goodman, who plays Whip’s drugdealer, manages to keep it a bit lighter.

“Flight” stays on its feet though, because the acting is very good and Zemeckis manages to keep the audience’s attention. Denzel Washington’s performance is better and more memorable then the movie itself.

Rating: 3/ 5