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Thursday 31 January 2013

Flight

15, Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Denzel Washington, Kelly Reilly, Don Cheadle, John Goodman   


 
After a slew of motion-capture animated offerings (The Polar Express, Beowulf, A Christmas Carol), Robert Zemeckis’ timely welcome return to the fold of live-action filmmaking – his first since 2000’s Cast Away – manifests itself in the form of Flight.  A boozy old-school character study, Denzel Washington is the sole focal point as (the strangely named) Whip Whittaker, an airline pilot who successfully crash lands a passenger jet. Whip’s nightmare begins once he regains consciousness however, as an investigation into the crash highlights the presence of alcohol in his bloodstream.  Considering the opening scene pits Whittaker guzzling beer and snorting cocaine through the night – and then bravely shows him boarding a passenger jet as its lead pilot, as casual as if he were working a 3-hour shift in the local supermarket – it is clear-cut our friend Whip has an addiction.

 Washington is as brilliant as always, giving a searing performance that takes John Gatins’ screenplay and positions audience members in a moral dilemma; this is a guy who is mindless to his problems...the same guy is also a hero. Washington pushes the boundaries as Whip, holding us in a headlock as he hurtles towards an unpredictable final act. If only the film could live up to his performance, instead he is forced to carry the weight of the suspect structure throughout. British actress Kelly Reilly is introduced in a disparate storyline early on, introducing us to her recovering junkie Nicole. When the characters collide in a scene not long after, you would be mistaken for assuming this story strand will culminate in adding something to the lengthy running time. Love interest? Plot filler? Neither; she is simply a mind-numbingly worthless addition and really bruises what potentially could have been a first-rate drama. A shame, considering the talent and promise Reilly evidently conducts. Intermittent appearances from the ever-welcome John Goodman are as welcome as ever, if slightly out of touch with the film surrounding them; he plays (the strangely named) Harling Mays, Whip's drug dealer pal, injecting a random bout of comedy to the whole thing - something Argo did so well, but Flight misplaces. 

The highs of Flight make the lows fall like crashes... the standout opening plane sequence, and the build-up to the climactic hearing Whip must attend proves that the clunky exposition has shrouded the decent stuff, with these particular scenes providing breathless action and impressive visuals; factors that help you remember why Zemeckis, the man behind the amazing Back to the Future trilogy, is up there with the elite. 

As it stands, this flight is a turbulent one.
 
3/5





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