A bit lackluster for Denzel, but great theme.

Rating: 7/10 (7 February 2013)

The movie bears a very relevant theme, needless to say.One would be forgiven for getting taken aback on realizing that most of the action features the aftermath, the inquiry into the pilot's conduct during the days before the actual flight and during the flight.Having watched Denzel in such a high-powered role as his in Training Day, one would have expected a similar act. Suffice it to say that the plot can hinder the full expression of an actor's capability, much like The Manchurian Candidate obscured Denzel and let Meryl Streep have all the ascendancy.
The flight scenes are nail-biting and exhilarating, making the rest of the movie a denouement of sorts.It's almost as if the movie begins proper after the crash-landing. Granted, just as nobody else could have landed that plane the way Whip did, nobody could have portrayed the action the way Denzel did.
This overburdening dullness that engulfs the movie all the rest of the way is atoned for by the theme of addiction, which by itself is quite a sombre theme, almost in sympathy with the bleakness. The only bright moment is borne by the surprise ending when Whip confesses to being an addict, admitting that he was high three days prior to the flight, on the morning of the flight, and that he drank the two vodka bottles on the flight, capping it all up by saying that he was drunk even then during the inquiry hearing.The last scene is a desperate attempt at coaching the audience; the movie should have just ended with the prison scene.