Two-time Academy Award winner Denzel Washington stars in “Flight” as Captain Whip Whitaker – a performance that has earned him Best Actor nominations from the BFCA, the Hollywood Foreign Press, SAG-AFTRA and the Academy. Whip is a veteran pilot who, on the day the story begins, is in charge of flying a plane from Florida to Georgia. It’s a stormy morning. The co-pilot on this flight is young and he and Whitaker have never worked together. The flight starts-out a little bumpy and then conditions get much worse. Soon the pilots have no control of the aircraft.
Whitaker makes some very critical decisions, including flying the plane inverted – completely upside down – in order to prevent it from nose-diving straight into the ground, killing everyone on board. He is able to pull-off an emergency landing, and for a while he’s considered a hero. But events in his life before, during and after the crash-landing will determine the direction that Whip’s life will go from that day forward.
“Flight” is director Robert Zemeckis’ first live-action film since 2000’s “Cast Away” and it’s a simple, but very effective drama. The first act, leading-up to and including the crash, is heart-pounding. Zemeckis does a great job of placing you inside the plane, experiencing the chaos that’s taking place. And the crash itself is staged very well.
But once on the ground, “Flight” becomes a study of Whitaker, not as a pilot, but a person and this is where the film becomes a showcase for the talented Mr. Washington, who portrays Whitaker as both a good guy who’s not really good and a bad guy who’s not really bad. This is a very complex role and Washington pulls-it off as very few actors could. We believe him as both a very talented pilot and a man with some major problems in his personal life.
The supporting cast is also very good. Bruce Greenwood plays a former flying partner and longtime friend of Whitaker’s, Don Cheadle perfectly cast as the lawyer for the pilot’s union and John Goodman continues on his roll of great supporting roles, playing Whitaker’s friend/drug dealer. Kelly Reilly and Melissa Leo also shine.
After making four motion-capture movies, including “The Polar Express” and the notorious bomb “Mars Needs Moms”, Zemeckis is back where he belongs. “Flight” is a little lengthy: following the crash, we get about an hour or so of mostly dialogue scenes. Could a few of them have been edited-out? Sure. But at no point does “Flight” lose its focus or the audience. We simply go along for the ride, as more of the life of this troubled pilot unfolds.
“Flight” is rated R for adult language, intense action, drug use and nudity. It’s appropriate for teens and up. It’s not an extraordinary film and the story is as straight-forward as you can get. But it’s impact is powerful, highlighted by the final, climactic scenes.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “Flight” gets a B.