Very Real Character Study of the Human Condition

Rating: 10/10 (28 July 2019)

This is a movie folks and never tries not to be a movie. It must play like a movie otherwise it becomes a documentary or serves for some social or political cause. Yet within the lines are very realistic character studies of addiction and ego. Denzel portrays the bliss and blister of addiction or better yet the addict personality. Addicts take risks! They can be very smart in an unconventional way. Think about it, to get high is to lose control. It is to go way out from sober. Accept it or not, skills are developed. An addict can face being out of control (plane is crashing) and not lose control because they are familiar with loss of control. Maybe, often, they are drawn to careers that are high risk and walk a fine line. Sometimes they live straight as an arrow and when they are in the sky can feel that "high" until they land. Pilots that can balance this are usually very good. Those who cannot cross boundaries like Whip Whitaker did. As for surprise performances, James Badge Dale did more with seven minutes of screen time than a lot of actors do in a career! It is one of the great performances in movie history! He had to lose 20 lbs for the role and worked at it for weeks before the one day shoot. He was instantly believable as a cancer patient. He should have won an award of some kind for this performance. It was a role that should have been forgotten, a filler role yet after the movie I thought about him. That is impact! John Goodman is on par with his performance as the savay drug dealer. It bordered over-the-top, but he got away with it and it was very entertaining. This movie needed some levity and I am sure Zemeckis allowed him to go for it to balance the ride out. This is a great movie to show with addicts and anyone wrestling with an addiction, pause for coffee break and open discussion in small group. It's just a matter of willingness to become vulnerable...the step that is the most difficult!