While perusing my Netflix menu I saw Flight pop up. I’d been meaning to watch it for a while. After speaking about it with a coworker I was curious to finally give it a try. Denzel Washington received an Oscar nod for it so it had to be good, right?
The movie follows airline pilot Whip Whitaker (played by Denzel Washington) who suffers from drug and alcohol addiction. Despite his vices, he remains an effective pilot who is able to land his flights safely. One day, his luck runs out after a mechanical error leads to disastrous consequences that send the plane down, fast. Whitaker manages to pull off a miraculous save that prevents the plane from crashing as badly as it could have. Instead of everyone dying, there are only six deaths. This accident proves to be the wakeup call Whip needs to change his ways, though walking the walk is more difficult than talking the talk. To add to his problems, the crash goes under investigation which exposes his addiction and causes further problems. While there is a team who tries to clean it up, Whip is his own worst enemy.
It doesn’t take long to get going. Toward the beginning I was already dropping my jaw at Whip’s behavior. While its run time is nearly two and a half hours, it doesn’t feel that long.
As for the character himself, he does a horrible thing, but for some odd reason I found myself rooting for him. I mean, you definitely want him to own up to his responsibilities and mistakes, but you still want him to come out as a better man. These are the types of complicated characters that make a movie worth watching. They pull you in emotionally. I tend to be more of a fan of character driven stories and this fits the bill perfectly.
Don Cheadle and John Goodman’s characters were crucial additions to the story and I found myself wanting to know more about them.
Though I could handle watching it, I think the alcohol and substance abuse might be a little too much to handle for others. There were a few intense scenes.
The story resolves itself the way it should so I was satisfied at the end.
Fans of Denzel should definitely check this one out. You’ve seen him do, good, bad, and ugly and this film shows him do that all in one.