Flight (2012)
Country: US
Technical: col/2.35:1 138m
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Cast: Denzel Washington, Kelly Reilly, Don Cheadle, John Goodman, Bruce Greenwood
Synopsis:
Can a pilot with an alcohol and drug problem still be the best man in the seat at time of need? Such is the question posed when Captain 'Whip' Whitaker averts disaster by performing an unorthodox crash landing while under the influence. As he awaits the inevitable questions of the enquiry, the pressure on his alcoholism increases and he confronts his own denial of responsibility with growing unpredictability.
Review:
An admirably grown-up discussion of issues of control and liability, from a director more often concerned with the lighter end of the spectrum. Conventional movie mythology would have us believe in Whitaker's innate skill and unique fitness for the job ('no one else could have landed that plane'), shrugging off the alcohol in the bloodstream as we would Pike Bishop taking another tug on a tequila bottle. Here, however, despite the casting of nice guy Denzel, there is enough uncontrolled, unsympathetic behaviour on display from our hero for us to interrogate our assumptions and instinctive distaste for our compensation culture. The film-makers repeatedly shy away from the easy Hollywood victory of strength over weakness, and balance is the order of the day. There is a subplot around his relationship with a drug addict, herself more honest about the need for 'straightening out'.
Country: US
Technical: col/2.35:1 138m
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Cast: Denzel Washington, Kelly Reilly, Don Cheadle, John Goodman, Bruce Greenwood
Synopsis:
Can a pilot with an alcohol and drug problem still be the best man in the seat at time of need? Such is the question posed when Captain 'Whip' Whitaker averts disaster by performing an unorthodox crash landing while under the influence. As he awaits the inevitable questions of the enquiry, the pressure on his alcoholism increases and he confronts his own denial of responsibility with growing unpredictability.
Review:
An admirably grown-up discussion of issues of control and liability, from a director more often concerned with the lighter end of the spectrum. Conventional movie mythology would have us believe in Whitaker's innate skill and unique fitness for the job ('no one else could have landed that plane'), shrugging off the alcohol in the bloodstream as we would Pike Bishop taking another tug on a tequila bottle. Here, however, despite the casting of nice guy Denzel, there is enough uncontrolled, unsympathetic behaviour on display from our hero for us to interrogate our assumptions and instinctive distaste for our compensation culture. The film-makers repeatedly shy away from the easy Hollywood victory of strength over weakness, and balance is the order of the day. There is a subplot around his relationship with a drug addict, herself more honest about the need for 'straightening out'.
Country: US
Technical: col/2.35:1 138m
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Cast: Denzel Washington, Kelly Reilly, Don Cheadle, John Goodman, Bruce Greenwood
Synopsis:
Can a pilot with an alcohol and drug problem still be the best man in the seat at time of need? Such is the question posed when Captain 'Whip' Whitaker averts disaster by performing an unorthodox crash landing while under the influence. As he awaits the inevitable questions of the enquiry, the pressure on his alcoholism increases and he confronts his own denial of responsibility with growing unpredictability.
Review:
An admirably grown-up discussion of issues of control and liability, from a director more often concerned with the lighter end of the spectrum. Conventional movie mythology would have us believe in Whitaker's innate skill and unique fitness for the job ('no one else could have landed that plane'), shrugging off the alcohol in the bloodstream as we would Pike Bishop taking another tug on a tequila bottle. Here, however, despite the casting of nice guy Denzel, there is enough uncontrolled, unsympathetic behaviour on display from our hero for us to interrogate our assumptions and instinctive distaste for our compensation culture. The film-makers repeatedly shy away from the easy Hollywood victory of strength over weakness, and balance is the order of the day. There is a subplot around his relationship with a drug addict, herself more honest about the need for 'straightening out'.