Flight (2012)

Directed by Robert Zemeckis

Starring Denzel Washington and Don Cheadle

Runtime 138min. - Rated R

3.5 Stars (out of 4)

"Flight" is now in theaters.

If  you keep up with this blog, you know how rare it is for me to review a mainstream film. Even more rare is for me to see a film still in theater. It's damn near unheard of for me to see a big new release on opening weekend during the busiest time of the day. The reasons for this are many and varied. The number one reason is the lack of funding for such ventures. I've been buried in debt for a while and because of that I've gotten most of my movie enjoyment from video-on-demand services and, more recently, screeners. It's so much cheaper than the theater, to rent a $3.99 movie on VUDU and make my own popcorn. Hell, I can even pause and take a piss if needed. Since I live in the boondocks, I save a lot of money on gas too. My financial situation has gotten a bit better recently, but I work on weekends. Ten hour shifts make it hard to see a film. Lastly, I have social anxiety. Opening weekends aren't generally good for folks who don't like crowds.


Last Saturday was different. An employee was terminated and I had been filling in the missing shifts. This left me with a Saturday off. I wanted to see "Cloud Atlas", but that film is long and was only playing late. I don't have a regular bedtime, but my kids do and they were staying with my mother-in-law. My only other reasonable option was "Flight".

The trailers for "Flight" gave me the impression that Denzel's character (Whip) was given a raw deal. I thought he had a slight elevation of blood-alcohol level and was being demonized by his employers because of liability issues. Now that I've seen the film, I still think that Whip got a raw deal, but there's no denying that he was drunk. And high. And sleep-deprived. He should not have been flying the plane that you see crashing in the trailer. If he wasn't however, 96 people wouldn't have survived.

I'm no pilot, but that doesn't look good.

The film opens with full-frontal nudity, so I knew I'd like it. Whip has woken up after a long night of shagging with one of his flight attendants. There's empty booze containers strewn about everywhere. He's feeling the hangover, but a bit of warm beer and a line of cocaine help him snap out of it. Maybe a little too much coke though, he reaches his balancing point by putting some vodka minis into his orange juice just before takeoff. Don't judge. The man just needed some sleep. Vodka and autopilot are as good as Ambien. But better than an alarm clock is the sound of a jet engine bursting into flames. After losing his controls and starting a flat spin, Whip gets the idea to flip the plane upside down and pitch downwards, which becomes upwards in their current position, and allows them to level off. He flips it back over and glides to a crash landing in an empty field. Six people die including his flight attendant-with-benefits.

The immediate public response is to hail whip as a hero. The FAA's first response is to get a blood sample. The results of which cause the pilots' union to hire a lawyer for Whip. His alcohol level was 3 times the legal limit for a car driver, the limit for a pilot is never discussed. The presence of coke doesn't help his case either.

"Flight" is not a story about plane crashes, it's a story about addiction. Whip attempts to empty his home of alcohol since his behavior is already in question. He pours out bottle after bottle of various alcoholic beverages. My first thought concerned the combined value of the booze. I'd imagine it was near a thousand dollars of booze washed down the drain. The location was suspect as well. Most folks keep their liquor in a freezer or cabinet, only alcoholics and old church-ladies have it in hiding spots.

The other key indicator of alcoholism is the lying. He's given multiple chances to get clean and seems sincere when he promises a change. It's never long before he betrays his friends and himself. At one point he's watched by a friend who only leaves his on his own after a verified 8-week stretch of sobriety. As soon as he gets the chance he drinks himself to the brink of death.

There was opportunity to shock the audience at the end of the film. They could have turned the unspoken code of Hollywood morality right on its head. Whip could have snorted coke to disguise his drunkenness and faded unscathed into the credits. Oh how I would have loved that. It wasn't to be though. Instead we're treated to a sudden eruption of guilt, followed by a self-sacrifice and moral resurrection. Vomit. I can't say it was a bad choice though. The movie was made for a general audience, not just for me.

Several folks have asked me if there's anything to the Oscar buzz around Denzel's performance. I don't see it. Not to say that he wasn't excellent, he was. To me though, he's always that good. Most best actor winners have given a performance above their usual level. Consider our last two winners Colin Firth and Jean Dujardin. These two guys stepped up their game a level. Both were well-respected, but reached for new heights in their winning roles. Washington's level is always so high that I can't see where this one sets itself apart. If he gets the Oscar for "Flight", I can think of a dozen others he should have won.

Robert Zemeckis

If you're going to throw an Oscar nod towards "Flight" it should be for direction. Some of the most impactful scenes are annoyingly simple, but frighteningly clever. The most memorable of which is a close up of a vodka mini-bottle. After staying clean for an extended time Whip finds it in a hotel mini-bar. He opens it, smells it, and sets it down. The camera lingers as if it's waiting to fade to the next scene. Whip's hand enters in and rips the bottle out of the frame, with it the pride and hope you feel for the character. This is the scene mentioned most to me, pretty amazing for a film that also features a tense and thrilling plane-crash. Known mostly for his lifelike animation, this is the first live-action film Robert Zemeckis has done since "Cast Away". The Academy should be ashamed not to give him a nomination.

I was disappointed not to catch "Cloud Atlas" on the big screen as I might not have another chance to do so. "Flight" was good enough to curb that disappointment and make me care about its characters. The film has been hyped, by some, to sound like an instant all-time classic. I'm not sure it's that great, but it's certainly great. Once some time has passed and perspective has been gained, "Flight" will be remembered as one of the best films of 2012, but short of any "best of the decade" list. The exception to this will be among the recovered addict demographic. The film will never be forgotten by those who struggle with addiction and alcoholism. It's probably one of the strongest, most accurate portrayals of the disease. A blogger from my area is better suited to address that aspect and has done so here, 'Flight': A Safe Way To Understand Hell.