Performance

Rating: 7/10 (4 November 2012)

In the first five minutes of FLIGHT, we learn Denzel Washington's commercial pilot Whip Whitaker is a man with a problem â€“ he's got a really bad hangover and needs to fly a plane. It's his job, after all. He does some coke and struts down a hotel corridor to Traffic's "Feelin' Alright" â€“ winding up aboard an airliner with more problems than he has.
Director Robert Zemeckis provides two suspenseful scenes within the essential baseline: first when the plane takes off through a thunderstorm and then that crash we payed to see. And with the impressive special effects aside, most of the "action" remains inside the cockpit as Whip takes creative measures, including turning the plane upside down, to avoid a nosedive.
But FLIGHT doesn't entirely live up to its name â€“ much of the film takes place after the crash as Whip deals with two problems at the same time: his own alcoholism that could result in a long prison time. Whip's addiction issues, and a steamy romance with a beautiful junky, would seem somewhat clichÃ© without the impending court date continuously established by Union rep Bruce Greenwood and sneaky lawyer Don Cheadle: each trying their best to keep Whip sober long enough to skate outta trouble... here's where the post-crash suspense occurs.
Meanwhile John Goodman's Harling Mays, a jovial drug dealer with his own theme song (The Stone's "Sympathy for the Devil"), tries too hard to steal scenes â€“ but when he's called back to save Whip from another hangover, you won't help but smile (even for the wrong reasons). But what really matters is Denzel Washington's genuine performance that, despite the talented cast and the impressive special effects around him, feels like a one-man show. He plays a narcissist with only one care in the world: himself. And with so many problems lurking around him, this makes for an intriguing two hours where even the slow moments count.
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