Flight is a film made by people who knew what they were doing. It is directed by Robert Zemeckis (Cast Away, Forrest Gump, Back To The Future) and stars actors such as Denzel Washington and Don Cheadle who have rarely picked a bad role. It is shown very clearly and extremely often that there are talented people both in front of and behind the camera. This is the type of film that stays flawless almost every second and never manages to be too showy about the fact. A perfect example of it not being showy while being great is the scene that allows the movie to take off. This scene involves pilot Whip Whitaker (Washington) having to land a plane while in a nosedive. This scene is bound to be more intense than any whole of a film this year and yet it seems humble in its style.
In the film-Whip is a pilot who miraculously lands the plane. However, Whip is accused of having an excessive amount of alcohol in his system while flying the plane. It is now that lawyer Hugh Lang (Cheadle) and Ken Evans (Bruce Greenwood) must prove the innocence of Whip.
The best thing about the film is that you never know where it is going. Even though it is revealed in the trailer that Whip lands the plane-the audience is on the edge of their seat because they forget about what they saw in the trailer. This is the mark of a great director-the fact that they can make you be right in the moment without you even realizing it. The performances are also all top notch. Washington brings his A-game and shows us a sympathetic character who, despite their major issues, we root for. Cheadle and Greenwood are both great as men who must prove something that seems too true to be proven. John Goodman shows up as Harling Mays-a friend of Whip's who shares his alcohol and drug addiction. Here-for the second time (the first being Argo) in less than a month-Goodman provides excellent comic relief among all the seriousness. The film is well paced. At two hours and eighteen minutes-it never seems to drag. Also-there is an excellent romance between Whip and a fellow drug addict named Nicole (Kelly Reilly) whom he meets at the hospital. You can feel their chemistry just ooze off the screen.
Don't go into Flight thinking it's yet another AA movie about alcohol dependency. No-we have already had our share of that with the excellent Smashed from about a month back. Rather-this is a flawless film that will leave you holding your breath in suspense and perhaps touched, enlightened and surprised by how much you care for the character of Whip. You can thank Zemeckis and Washington for that-they both do great things here as do the rest of the cast and crew.
(5 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated R for drug and alcohol abuse, language, sexuality/nudity and an intense action sequence)
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