Review - Flight

Robert Zemeckis was amongst the peak of modern directors at the turn of the century, and then he changed. Following acclaimed movies Cast Away and What Lies Beneath, Zemeckis didn't direct a live action movie until Flight. Flight is a vehicle for Denzel Washington to return to drama after a string of generally good action films, and a chance for Zemeckis to reestablish himself as one of the better directors in film. Flight comes off as a good film, but fails to reach great heights.

Captain William 'Whip' Whitaker (Washington) wakes up hungover one morning after drinking heavily with fellow flight crew member Katerina Marquez (Nadine Velazquez). Whitaker has a flight to pilot that morning, and despite suspicious looks from co-pilot, Ken Evans (Brian Ger aghty) gets the plane in the air and through some early turbulence. Everything goes down from there, literally, as a fault in the plane makes flying impossible and Whitaker performs a miraculous maneuver to land the plane with only 6 casualties. Whitaker becomes an instant celebrity for his heroic actions, until he comes under scrutiny from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) following a toxicology report. Whitaker meets a recovering drug addict, Nicole (Kelly Reilly) in hospital and begins a relationship with her however, Whitaker's addiction to alcohol continues to torment him as a hearing at the NTSB approaches, and his separation from his wife and son begin to take a toll on Whitaker, all while union rep Charlie Anderson (Bruce Greenwood) and lawyer Hugh Lang (Don Cheadle) try to nurse him to the trial.

Flight is seemingly all dependent on Washington and he doesn't let the film down. The intriguing plot however tends to drag on, and Washington's anti-hero begins to grate on the audience as his bad decisions continue to pile up. Washington dominates the screen in this film, and carries it well. He appears to be in a fight with Daniel Day-Lewis and possibly Hugh Jackman for the best actor Oscar, ad would be a worthy recipient. Cheadle, as seemingly always, is terrific in his performance, and John Goodman has a very good role as well. Reilly seems a little off in her performance, and the character of Nicole gets lost behind Whitaker. Zemeckis direction is stable, yet not spectacular, reflecting the movie as a whole. The nearly 140 minute running time for Flight is probably 20-30 minutes too long, and this results in Whitaker becoming annoying and frustrating. Flight is an interesting and entertaining film however, and well worth seeing.

7.0 out of 10 - Good.

Washington's performance and the interesting story line hold Flight together just long enough, before the anti-hero really begins to annoy.