My Review of Flight

Flight is a psychological drama about a man’s descent from his lofty sense of self to the simple grounded truth:  he is hopelessly in denial of his alcoholism and narcissism.

Denzel Washington is Whip Whitaker, an experienced commercial pilot who needs his fix of booze, sex and cocaine to be able to fly a plane carrying 102 passengers from Florida to Atlanta.  During flight, the plane nosedives but Whip skillfully manages to roll the plane upside down and return it right side up before it crash lands on a field – an almost impossible feat that managed to save 96 lives onboard and which no other pilot could reportedly do.

During the first half-hour of the film, director Robert Zemeckis - a pilot himself -  masterfully takes us on the edge of our seats by putting us squarely on the plane as it turns, rolls, dives - and as all hell, emotions, and the plane breaks.

The rest of the film’s 139 minutes is not just a showcase of how a man’s alcoholism and his denial of it is enabled by the airline pilot’s union and corporate America, it also exhibits Denzel Washington’s affecting and brilliant performance as a loathsome loser.

Whip Whitaker elicits very little sympathy but Denzel Washington manages to keep us hooked. Just like an addict, we become fixated at what he will do next. Will he stop drinking? Will he face the truth about himself? And every time he doesn’t, we keep coming back for more and hope along with him that he will see the light.

Kelly Reilly, an English actress who was in the Sherlock Holmes sequel, is beautiful and compelling as Nicole – a recovering heroine addict. Unfortunately, her talent was under-utilized since her character served only as a convenient prop so Denzel Washington’s Whitaker will have someone to trade barbs and tension with as he struggles to manage his addiction.

Don Cheadle plays the lawyer who does his best to keep Whitaker out of jail. Bruce Greenwood is the head of the airline pilot’s union who is similarly struggling to save Whitaker from his self. Both are level-headed in their portrayal of enablers who are just as out to save Whitaker and themselves from the legal and financial consequences of the plane crash.

John Goodman sticks out like a sore thumb in the movie as he plays the clownish drug dealer who is keeping Whitaker addicted yet highly-functioning.

The film starts out with a visual high thanks to the impressive special effects at the early part of the movie. However, it descends to a cop-out of sorts as it oddly becomes a commercial for Alcoholics Anonymous.

Maybe the movie was required to deliver to American audiences the lessons it was supposed to learn: that drinking is bad, being an alcoholic is worst, change is better – and possible. But the movie became preachy and only served to alienate non-5-year old audiences who don’t want to be told what to do.