Viewed in
2012
Formats
Movie theater.
Premise
Denzel Washington stars as a pilot who comes under investigation after a miraculous landing that saves most of the passengers.
Liked
Washington's performance, well-written story.
Disliked
Parts of the middle.
Thoughts
Usually when there's a movie that shouts "get this actor/actress an Oscar nomination!", it's all about the lead, with the story as dressing. Not here. In this film, Washington's performance and the story were equally compelling.
If Washington gets nominated for best actor, he deserved it. He was fantastic in his portrayal of a cool cat who's thinks he's in control of his alcoholism. This movie wouldn't have worked without him. Flanking him were strong performances, especially by Kelly Reilly, and a hilarious performance by John Goodman (probably will get best supporting nod).
It was a testament to John Gatin's screenplay in which the harrowing plane crash scene was only in the first act, yet the scenes of Washington battling inner demons and the impending pressure of investigation were what made this story so exciting. The opening was remarkably intense, and the climax was emotionally powerful. Haunting bookends.
However, the middle section could've used some trimming. It's not much of a spoiler, but Washington's character was clearly flawed in the alcohol department, and addiction was an important theme. While I understand that fighting addiction is a daily struggle, I felt like that message was repeated one too many times, sometimes in manipulative ways. They were extremely well done and Washington's acting sold each of those moments, so it wasn't boring, but still, I think addition by subtraction would've made the movie even better.
One last nitpick: Reilly's introduction was a tad weird. It made sense in the big scheme of her subplot, but it was pretty ballsy to intercut so much of a minor character into the first thirty minutes, forcing me to keep faith that she would be worth it.
Flight was a fantastic movie. It was more than a one-man show by Washington, thanks to very strong cast, writing and directing. Welcome back to live action features, Mr. Zemeckis!
