Stalls and Crashes

Rating: 4/10 (5 November 2012)

Full Disclosure: Hold a Private Pilots License.
In "The Lost Weekend" and "Days of Wine and Roses," men battle their addiction to alcohol. Both Ray Milland and, particularly, Jack Lemmon portrayed the alcoholic lifestyle to perfection.
Then there's Denzel Washington. He's a pilot taking control of a doomed commuter jet on a hop from Orlando to Atlanta. Mr. Washington performs a miraculous, impossible maneuver to save the 102 souls on board (losing six) when a catastrophic mechanical failure occurs. Problem is he's drunk (.24) and roused from the alcoholic stupor by cocaine.
"Flight" follows Mr. Washington from the pre-flight check to his testimony at the NTSB investigation.
There is a subtext of rebirth and spirituality in "Flight." Passengers are helped from the crash by a group holding a baptismal service as the plane shears their church spire and misses them by mere feet. His co-pilot thanks God for the crash even though both legs are crushed. However, it's not a spiritual path moving Mr. Washington along his character arc. It's a fellow addict in a parallel story and facing the lies about his life.
One might believe this is the stuff of great drama. Unfortunately, the venerable Mr. Zemeckis allowed padding in this overlong story with too many meaningless scenes that keep the film circling for a landing. We learn very little about Mr. Washington. Most information about his past is gleaned by inference; we first see a Navy tattoo, but he's too young to have flown in Vietnam and too old for the Middle eastern wars; he was a pilot for Delta and it's inferred he's well down the career ladder; his Tuskegee Airman father may have been a drunk who operated a crop dusting service but there's no indication it was an abusive relationship (his Mother is barely mentioned); his son hates him for being a drunk while his ex-wife can barely stand the sight of him at her door. But why? People drink to ameliorate pain.
In "The Lost Weekend" we know Milland is disappointed in himself for not being able to write. In "Days of Wine and Roses" drinking stems from career pressure and working a job Lemmon loathes. The bottom line: it's self- loathing.
What makes Mr. Washington drink? "Flight" offers not an iota of explanation. He's just a garden variety drunk who not only flies loaded but drives that way as well. Drunk driving and flying are inexcusable. Without empathy served up, Mr. Washington is highly unlikable even though he's a stud pilot who saved a lot of people. That's the germ of the story missing from "Flight." The locus between bum and hero. The multifaceted personality drawing positive and negative attention.
That a slick lawyer buries the toxicology report to keep Washington out of prison adds little to this "hero." As does his personal drug dealer, John Goodman, introduced with The Stones' "Sympathy For The Devil."
Portraying an airline allowing the damaged jackscrew causing the elevator failure to remain 1200 hours after a maintenance notification unfairly paints them as uncaring incompetents. Not cool. Aircraft Mechanics should picket theaters.
The reason Mr. Washington caves at the NTSB hearing is to save the reputation of a (boozy) flight attendant he was bedding. His decision is made because she saved a child during the crash and he admits he's told too many lies. A greater story of the politics of lying is absent in "Flight." A missed opportunity for a better story.
The final scene has Washington's son visiting him in prison under the guise of writing a paper with the theme, "The Most Interesting Person I've Never Met." The son's first question is, "Who are you?" Mr. Washington answers, "I don't know." If he doesn't, how is the audience to know. It's a senseless response given Mr. Washington, it's inferred, had a great life he wasted for reasons unknown.
There is something in the script of "Flight" the writer (a hack who's written some real dreck) kept to himself. Or couldn't articulate. It's a shame a Director of Zemeckis' proportions chose to film it. "Flight" is a talky, overlong, snoozy character study minus a leading character that's also absent tension and internal conflict.