Flight

Flight is Robert Zemeckis' first live-action film since Cast Away in 2000. Both films kick off with a plane crash, so Zemeckis is bucking to make the most films that won't be featured as in-flight entertainment.

Denzel Washington stars as Whip Whitaker, a self-loathing pilot. He awakens drunk with a flight attendant (Nadine Velasquez, in a scene that is sure to win awards from Mr. Skin). He has more booze, than a line of cocaine to make him alert. He has more booze on the flight from Orlando to Atlanta, but he manages to pull out of major turbulence.

Then something in the plane breaks, and he pulls off a spectacular maneuver to pull the plane out of a nose dive and glide it away from populated areas, with only minimal loss of life. He is hailed as a hero, but his blood toxicology report reveals alcohol and cocaine in his system.

I don't know this for sure, but I'm guessing screenwriter John Gatins was inspired by the landing of the jet on the Hudson River a few years. Captain Sullenberger was the hero du jour, and nothing since then has tarnished his reputation. But what if a supposed hero isn't such a nice guy, and though the crash is not his fault, he was shit-faced when it happened?

The answers as laid out in this film are fascinating. Washington is surrounded by a buddy and union official (Bruce Greenwood) and attorney (Don Cheadle), and hides from the public. He meets another addict in the hospital. She is Kelly Reilly, a young woman with a heroin problem. They take a shine to each other, and she holes up with him in hiding on his father's farm. He resists her attempts to admit his addiction, and he will have to face his own demons.

This is a pretty powerful tale of redemption, mainly because of Washington's bold portrayal. There is not much likable about him. He's alienated everyone with his drinking, except his booze and cocaine buddy, John Goodman (is he wearing the same bowling shirt from The Big Lebowski?) Whip is a perfect shit, but he is also a tortured individual, completely adrift. Washington does something interesting with his face, namely his jaw, which seems to recede as he realizes he's half a man. I loved a scene where he practically begs his friend a co-worker to testify that he did not appear drunk in the cockpit that day.

About that crash scene--what a doozy! Most of the action takes place in cockpit, and you feel like you're right in there with them. I'll have to check with my brother-in-law the pilot to find out if inverting a plane takes levels it out of a nose-dive.

Though Washington deserved accolades (he's certain to get an Oscar nomination) Reilly should not be ignored. I was amazed to find out she's British. She also does something interesting with her face--she is able to make her eyelid twitch. Granted, the relationship between the two is nonsense--they only get together sexually because the script calls for it--it doesn't mean the characterizations aren't intense.

My grade for Flight: B+.