Very good

Rating: 8/10 (16 December 2012)

Quite good Oscar bait directed by Robert Zemeckis, who hasn't made a live action film since Cast Away in 2000. Denzel Washington stars as an alcoholic, drug addicted pilot. On a routine flight, some troubles occur and cause him to have to crash land the plane. Six people die in the crash, and it was only due to Washington's ingenious maneuver that anyone survived. The accident is clearly due to a mechanical error, but Washington's substance abuse problems come under scrutiny, and if they come out publicly, it will mean being charged with manslaughter, no matter the mechanical problems. This is mostly a standard story of alcoholism, but it's very well done, and Denzel is as good as he's been since his Oscar win back in 2001 (though I'd rank this performance far below his work in Training Day). Kelly Reilly is also excellent as a heroin addict whom he meets in the hospital. She wants to escape substance abuse herself, and Denzel's pigheadedness doesn't help. John Goodman, Bruce Greenwood and Don Cheadle, amongst others, also give great performances. The plane crash sequence is one of the best, most harrowing sequences of the year. I can't imagine any person seeing this in a theater and not gripping the hand rests tightly.