Good in parts but not what it could well have been. But Washington is excellent

Rating: 6/10 (3 February 2013)

Flight is an odd film, which takes you along for the ride, but which soon has you asking pertinent questions almost as soon as the credits roll.
That notwithstanding, what is outstanding about Flight is Denzel Washington in the main role as an alcoholic, coke-snorting pilot in denial who might well have saved the almost 200 lives through his flying skill but who faces several years in jail when a toxicology report shows up the booze and coke in his blood while flying. But Washington aside – though it has to be said that the performances are of the highest order – there seems in retrospect very little 'plot' or 'story' to Flight. In a nutshell it is that 'brave alcoholic pilot finals admits to himself that he is an addict'.
So did we need nigh on two hours of this and that to get to that point. Well, no we did not. And that is to say, apart from the obvious reason of making money for the studio, there seems very little reason to make Flight. Outstanding is the crashing of an airliner which, more or less, opens the film. And if you saw the trailer, which, I understand, makes great use of those crash scenes, the film will undoubtedly come as an anti-climax. What is not so good is the putative nascent relationship with a recovering heroin addict – and boy do Hollywood junkies still look good and if they are women, pretty. I didn't buy it, although what with Washingon being black and the lass who falls for him white, Flight should at least be praised from being – in 2013! – one of only a handful of films which show that love is colour blind. Usually, the black hero has to have a black woman.
Another weak point, another exceptionally weak point is including John Goodman as an in-your-face, larger than life dealer who supplies Washington with his uppers, downers and everything in between. As played by Goodman – that is Goodman playing the one role he seems these days solely hired to play – the dealer character seems like an intruder from a different film. And don't even start to ask why an airline pilot who has a lot to lose should his addictions become public should ever consider throwing in his lot with a loudmouth dealer as portrayed by Goodman. In fact, the Goodman character strikes me as a production decision, an element to jazz it all up a little. But it doesn't, it just diminishes the film. And the final scene in which Washington is apparently reconciled with his son is simply hamfisted and probably tacked on to elecit a tear or two from the daytime TV generation who like a little ersatz emotion.
How many stars to give Flight? Well, five would be unkind, because in many ways, not least the spectacular crash and Washington's performance, it is better than average. But if I give it six, be warned that it could have been a lot, lot better had someone somewhere had a little more courage and made the film which should have been made.