Flight

Rating: 5/10 (3 July 2013)

Director Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, What Lies Beneath) had not directed a live action film since Cast Away, as he has spent time making motion capture computer animated films The Polar Express, Beowulf and A Christmas Carol, it was good to see him return with this one. Basically Whip Whitaker (Oscar and Golden Globe nominated Denzel Washington) is an airline captain for South Jet Air, he is a cocaine addict and alcoholic, and he is having an affair with flight attendant Katerina 'Trina' Marquez (Nadine Velazquez), following the divorce from his estranged ex-wife. He one night spends his time in Orlando taking drinking alcohol and cocaine, and the following morning he pilots Flight 227 to Atlanta, and all of the sudden something goes wrong with the engineering during turbulence, forcing him to attempt to the fly the craft upside down, and spinning back over and crash land. He awakes in hospital with minor injuries, and he is told by his old friend Charlie Anderson (Bruce Greenwood) that ninety six out of one hundred and two people on the flight survived the crash, the four passengers and two crew members died, one being Trina, but for saving these many lives he is seen as a hero of sorts. But then he meets lawyer Hugh Lang (Don Cheadle) who informs him that he had high levels of alcohol and cocaine in his blood tests, so he and the union are investigating what really happened during the flight, and more specifically whether or not Whip was intoxicated. If he is found guilty of piloting a plane under the influence of substances he could face life imprisonment, so he does his best to stay sober for the next few days before going to court to defend himself, but his addiction gets the better of him. Having struggled with alcoholism and drug addiction for so long, during trial he convinces himself that he could get out of the situation, but in the end he accepts that he is guilty and is honest about his intoxication the day of the flight, so he does indeed go to prison, for five years, losing his pilot licence as well. Also starring Kelly Reilly as Nicole, John Goodman as Harling Mays, Melissa Leo as Ellen Block, Brian Geraghty as Ken Evans, Tamara Tunie as Margaret Thomason, James Badge Dale as Gaunt Young Man, Garcelle Beauvais as Deana, Peter Gerety as Avington Carr and Piers Morgan. Washington gives a fine performance as the man suffering personal demons and struggling to overcome his addictions, he is obviously the main reason to see this film and was a good choice for an Oscar nomination, Goodman is likable as his jolly drug dealer, and there is some small element of romance with Reilly as a recovering heroin addict. The most exciting part of the film is of course the plane going out of control and crashing, but it does get interesting as it goes on with the man unable to stop himself and the courtroom sequence, I admit it was slow for some time in the middle, but overall it is a relatively good drama. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Writing, Original Screenplay. Very good!