There Is Too Many Problems For Me To Appreciate This Film

Rating: 5/10 (10 July 2013)

I have not seen all of Robert Zemeckis' films but with the ones I have seen, either it was good or just so-so, I think "wow". The Back of the Future, even the third one, is spectacular, Romancing the Stone was light and fun with colorful characters and great chemistry between the two leads, and The Polar Express is a beautiful Christmas film using motion capture and a film I can watch time and time again without getting bored. Not all of these films I just mentioned are perfect but they are great films and are effective on what they are trying to do. Flight is Zemeckis' return to live action and it takes a more serious tone compared to the ones I am familiar with. The film has flaws and it has it's strong points.
A screenplay written by John Gatins and honestly, this is the first time I have heard of him and Flight is the first film I have watched from him. I came into this, due to trailers and posters, thinking that it's going to be heavily focused on a plane crash but instead the film's real focus is the effects of alcoholism. There are moments of the film, where this focus works but at times feels pointless. The moments that work are the focus on his addiction's damage to his relationships and career. What also worked in the film, are the story points where they discuss about his case in the plane crash and whether or not his addiction could have caused it. Even with these great moments, they are bridged between pointless and boring moments like the protagonist's romantic relationship with the drug addict, or the scenes with his family. They felt a bit forced and added only a little bit, the divorced family aspect, to the plot. At the start of the film, Kelly Reilly's character was introduced a little too heavily. It makes the audience think that she is that of an important character and I felt that the film took a bit of a wrong turn. The film's plot was decent but could have been improved in certain areas.
Robert Zemeckis clearly wanted to make a film about the dark side of alcohol addiction. Yet the film doesn't feel dark in it's tone but rather a little positive. The plane crash sequence felt suspenseful but not in a way that would make me think twice on stepping on a plane again or whether the flight crew is to be trusted. I get it, the focus is on Whip Whitaker but if there was a sense of weight on the damage that may have been caused due to his condition, then the film would feel more effective. The film didn't really show much of his love for flying, which he desperately wants to keep, and it seems we have to just accept the fact that it's his love and passion.
With the films I have watched that has Don Burgess as the director of photography, it always feels light. It seems almost positive at times regardless if the subject of the film is dark or serious. This is just a judgement based on the films I have seen from him; I have not seen his other works like Priest, Source Code, or Contact that I assume may have a dark tone. Because the film here has a dark matter to it, it should be handled by a cinematographer who is capable of capturing the damage of alcoholism, but there must first be an intention from the director in order to really create that atmosphere.
The soundtrack of this film is top notch. The songs comes from amazing artists like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lou Reed, The Rolling Stones, and Marvin Gaye. When they come on, it doesn't feel out of place and sounds appropriate to the scene especially the song 'Under the Bridge'. Alan Silvestri is the composer for the film and I felt that his score was a little underused. I did not really notice his impact until the climax, it sounded great and dramatic.
The acting in this film is what saved this film. Denzel as always brings his best and plays this tortured man without going to the point of melodrama. I had no idea the supporting cast of this film was going to have big names. Don Cheadle was great, he was really subtle but excellent. Bruce Greenwood, whom I am only familiar with from Star Trek, was really good in this. Brian Geraghty was pretty good from The Hurt Locker and I felt he gave a better performance here, even if his role is minor. But when John Goodman comes into the scene, he steals it and everyone plays off him great, in particular the hotel scene. Goodman plays a little eccentric but not to the point where you are distracted from the point of his appearance. The chemistry between Reilly and Washington was the my only issue as it felt like they were just saying what they were told to say and do what they were supposed to do, and also their point to the story was useless in my opinion.
The film is decent and does have enough good points about it to give it a watch. This didn't hit me as it did for some people but it is deserving of it's appreciation in Denzel Washington's performance. I ever feel like watching something from Zemeckis, this wouldn't be at the top of my list.