'Flight' needed more brains on board

Rating: 3/10 (28 February 2013)

There's a lack of genuinely great airline disaster films, especially on a large budget, and, as a disaster movie fan, I was excited about 'Flight'. Unfortunately, whilst the disaster aspect is impressive, the movie itself is a bit of a disaster for anyone who doesn't subscribe to the beliefs of Writer, John Gatins. The movie is actually a rather heavy-handed propaganda piece for Christianity, and, even worse, alcoholics anonymous, who are a despicable religious organisation, who target vulnerable people to brainwash them into Christianity. Don't believe me? Check out their 12 step program.
Despite these monolithic flaws, there are things to like about 'Flight'. The opening thirty minutes with the disaster are tense, thrilling and almost worth the entry price alone. I also have no issues with a personal redemption story, and in that respect it works very well, but the whiff of Christianity is all over it from the imagery to the dialogue, and subtle as a brick to the face.
When troubled by heavy turbulence, the co-pilot prays "Lord Help us," and hung-over, coked-up pilot, Whip Whitaker (Denzel Washington), responds "He can't help you now." When the plane crashes , not only do they knock the steeple off a church, but they fly directly towards a huge wooden crucifix in the ground. It really spells it out for you that Denzel Washington's character is a lost man who doesn't believe in God, and, through this accident, he will find God and sobriety. At this point you know how the movie is going to proceed, and it never offers much in the way of surprises.
The survivors and fatalities aren't referred to by officials as people, but "souls", which just comes across as odd. Something like "There were 96 souls who survived and 6 souls lost." Then when his lawyer speaks to him, he says they're going to pursue the case that it was "an act of God". Do crash investigation officials and lawyers in America really talk like this? I just looked into it and apparently "act of God" is an actual American legal term, which is pretty messed up. Religion should have nothing to do with the law. I know America is a really religious country, but the religious dialogue from officials just didn't ring true with me; it seemed to be from a world that only exists in writer John Gatins' head.
Pilot Whip Whitaker even says, "God help me" at the crucial turning point of the movie, so it's very much a religious movie and there's no debating that; a good religious movie, but it being religious is not something I can just brush aside like it doesn't matter. One weird scene is when Whip Whitaker visits his co-pilot in hospital, who talks about God in an over the top manner whilst his wife chants, "Praise Jesus." This scene just comes across as mocking the religious, which isn't in keeping with the rest of the film. If it was deliberate to have them come across as a pair of freaky extremists, then I think it was just a red herring, attempting to throw the viewer, as the movie is otherwise rather predictable.
All the crash investigations and progressions are very interesting, so I can't say I was bored, just all the more disappointed. I'll try not to spoil the ending of this rather predictable movie, but let's just say it ends with a redeemed, sober man and a close up shot of a religious prayer on his wall_ with a dove above it. *Vomits everywhere* The lack of subtlety even extends to the soundtrack, where the songs used literally describe the events taking place on screen.
By being so unsubtle it makes it impossible for the non-religious to ignore the religious aspects, therefore alienating a huge proportion of the audience. If you're Christian and think Alcoholics Anonymous is a swell organisation, then the chances are you'll love 'Flight', because it is an engaging and intoxicating film. For everyone else, watch 'The Grey' on Blu Ray or DVD instead.
I'm very disappointed in Robert Zemeckis for wasting his time on such a script. He's brought us such perfect movies as 'Back To The future' trilogy, 'Death Becomes Her' and 'What Lies Beneath'. This is a painfully obvious, religious redemption movie and just isn't up to the expected standard. The fact that there was actually a great disaster sequence and it was an involving film throughout just makes this missed opportunity all the more frustrating. I can't help wonder how great 'Flight' could have been with more brains on board.
(See more of my reviews at http://www.facebook.com/EnigmacryptMovieReviews and http://enigmacrypt.blogspot.co.uk/)