The pilot may have saved the plane but he was drunk!

Rating: 8/10 (10 July 2013)

This film opens in a hotel room where a man is seen drinking and taking cocaine the next time we see him he is boarding a plane he is pilot Whip Whitaker. He takes off through extreme weather and manages to find calmer air before continuing towards the destination. Just as the plane is due to descend something goes drastically wrong leaving it is a steep descent and not responding to the controls. It looks like they are doomed until Whitaker attempts a daring manoeuvre; he inverts the plane to bring it under control before landing in a field. Miraculously only six people were killed and it looks as if he will be hailed as a hero until a routine blood analysis shows he was far too drunk to drive let alone fly a plane. The pilot's union provides a lawyer who believes he can save Whitaker's reputation but it won't be easy as he won't stop drinking. While in hospital he befriends a woman who survived a drug overdose and she tries to help him but he doesn't seem to want help.
Rather unusually the most spectacular scenes take place at the start of the film; the scenes on the plane as it first passed through extreme turbulence then later on when it crashed were pretty impressive and looked pretty real. After that exciting opening things get a bit bleak; Whitaker isn't the most likable protagonist but Denzel Washington, on top form, makes us believe in his character and constantly will him not to drink even though he inevitably does. He is ably supported by Kelly Reilly, who plays drug addict Nicole and by John Goodman who brings some humour to the situation as Whitaker's drug supplier. Overall I'd say this film is well worth watching; just don't expect it to be action all the way!