A very well acted movie, but not without problems

Rating: 8/10 (2 November 2012)

This movie has a lot to offer, especially once it really gets going. (You do NOT want to watch it if you are about to fly somewhere. The scene leading up to the plane crash is very well filmed, and will make you fear flying even if that has never bothered you before.) What this is, at its best, is the story of an addict, alcohol and cocaine, who is still completely functional. (I don't know if that's possible.) He pulls off the miraculous landing of a small jet when there is a mechanical failure, using a presence of mind that seems surprising from someone who drinks and drugs so regularly and heavily - but since I don't do either, I don't know if that is realistic or not.
Thereafter, once his addition is discovered, most of the movie deals with his efforts to cover it up so he will not lose his license and be sent to prison for years. He is not necessarily admirable in this.
Washington gives a first-rate performance of an interesting but far from perfect man. He's a first-rate actor, and he makes us interested in his character even through we don't really like him.
A few things bothered me about the movie, though.
First, if the one flight attendant, Margaret, who had known the pilot for years, knew about his drinking problem, would she really have been so tolerant, and willing to fly with him? That seems hard to believe.
Second, I didn't like the end in prison. It was heart-warming, yes, but almost like an ad for AA. I would have been happier if: a. he had let the accusation of the flight attendant pass at the inquest, and then been bothered by the fact that he let the woman's name be tarnished - leaving us bothered by the thought that an addict pilot could in fact get out of such inquests and go on flying.
b. he had admitted that he was the one who drank the vodka, and we had been left with the fact that he would then serve a prison term.
Third, when the story of the drug-addicted prostitute is first introduced, once the flight starts, I had NO idea how that connected to what was going on. It really went on much too long - the porn director going on about Nicole playing Desdemona in a porn version of Othello, with a Moor who didn't look at all Moorish, at least from the back, etc. A short scene establishing her situation would have been better, though it still would have been confusing until later, in the hospital, when we see her again and realize that her story will intersect with the pilot's. Frankly, we could just have met her in the hospital, without any of the preceding scenes with her, and still have figured out her situation just as well without any of the confusion.
Still, it's a good movie, and definitely worth seeing for Washington's performance.