Flight: "Paging Capt. Jack Daniels."

Rating: 10/10 (14 February 2013)

Capt. Jack Daniels is the term my ground school instructor, a former USAF flight instructor and current airline pilot used when referring to the growing concern of alcohol and substance abuse among commercial airline pilots. Both he and I could never figure out what drove a person to such behavior. That is, someone who gets the fly jets for a living. Pilot, astronaut, or actor is the top jobs kids dream about doing when they grew up. And with training and education almost equal to that of doctors, it's truly a tragedy when someone throws that away. Why? This film won't answer that question for it's not the usual airline disaster movie or anatomy of a plane crash treatment. Although we'll be introduced to lack of maintenance, mechanical failures, and legal finger pointing, the main purpose here is the human story and the myriad of cascading consequences through very strong character development. Denzel Washington who plays alcoholic Pilot "Whip Whitaker" shows us very convincingly the struggles and denial associated with his character's addiction. I say convincingly because although I enjoy all his previous work some of his earlier journeys into darkness came off a little "over the top" such as in Training Days. But to me this is the first time I believe that "damn, this guy's got some problems" as he takes us through Whip's substance abuse journey of: Denial, grief, and finally redemption. Denzel's performance is definitely the strongest but he's joined by an excellent supporting cast who I empathized with as well. As a Sherlock Holmes fan I was delighted to see the pretty blue-eyed redhead, Kelly Reilly sans her stifling Victorian clothing. She plays a heroin addict "Nicole" struggling with a heroin addiction as well. She's Whip's love interest from a chance encounter while Whip was recovering from his "physical" injuries. Set in the Atlanta area this Brit's southern accent is just right for the "most northern city in the south." I was glad to see Nicole get cleaned up just before the "southern fried hag" transformation, a fate that (from my observations), befalls many 20-30 something's in the ATL area given just the right cocktail of smoking, drinking, and drug use. That some of the most beautiful women even by my jaded CA. standards can throw away their looks is another mystery in my mental rolodex. Next I was also treated to Don Cheadle in between his Ironman movies to portray legal eagle, "Hugh Lang." Bruce Greenwood's "Charlie Anderson" is an equally supportive character during Whip's downward spiral. I can't wait to see the next Star Trek's "Capt. Pike" performance. Law and Order SVU's Tamara Tunie is the religious Stewardess "Margaret Thomason." And John Goodman's "Harling Mays" is the good-humored drug pusher with a heart of gold as the dependable go-to person for a variety of non-drug related favors as well. (Check him out in Argo).
My only complaint? The story ends too soon. I'm left with the longing to see more of Whip and Nicole. Does Whip mend relations with his co-workers? Who else remains in Whip's corner besides the inner circle? After all, besides his personal faults which he's punished for, he did save 96 out of 102 lives and was elevated to hero status. However, it's said that to leave questions is more ingenious than answer all of them.
Special Features (iTunes Extras): The plane crash was semi-accurately depicted as the filmmaker's researched and spliced together actual accounts from different scenarios.