A really interesting, well made movie with a terrific Washington

Rating: 7/10 (10 March 2013)

Flight (2012)
What starts as one thing ends up being another. And that's a great thing. This movie has several stages to it, all tied together by a terrible airplane accident. And tied together by alcoholism, plain and simple.
Denzel Washington takes on the lead role with the kind of intensity Daniel-Day Lewis did for his Lincoln--it's not surprising they were both nominated for best actor. And this is Washington's movie, top to bottom. Yes, there is yet another offbeat and hilarious and commanding smaller role by John Goodman (see "Argo" for starters), and a strong if overly restrained lawyerly performance by Don Cheadle. In truth the whole cast is believable in a contemporary, mainstream way (we can skip the woman at the start who unfortunately ends up being purely provocative and decorative, and we can admire the heroin addict played by Kelly Reilly).
The director? Robert Zemeckis, who has been trying for years to carve his own way to some kind of populist stardom, like a more fun Spielberg. And his movies often fall short, I think because of their very populism--they want to be liked be everyone, and you can't quite do that most of the time. (Frank Capra comes to mind, but he's another order of director at his best, which he wasn't always.) Zemeckis is smart and competent, however, and he makes this movie roll right along with a quiet fascination for the process of NTSB investigators and alcohol tests, not the most exciting material.
Don't let me leave out the plane crash--this is no spoiler, I think--which is terrific and harrowing, and with the final smartphone footage from the ground you'll be gasping. (This movie won't be used for in-flight entertainment, that's for sure.) It's exciting stuff.
By the way, when you get to the end and you see what the investigators decide about the plane (not about the pilot), remember to think back to the first moments of the flight, not just the last moments. There are some questions that you might have to answer anew. A movie that bears scrutiny and some reconsidering is good stuff.
Enjoyable. This is kind of routine movie-making, but well done, well done!