Flight
Written by John Gatins (Real Steel) and directed by Robert Zemeckis
(A Christmas Carol), Flight revolves around Pilot Whip Whitaker
(Denzel Washington), a man in denial and one who lives precariously on
alcohol and drugs. His life is about to change when he awakes one
morning with his stewardess girlfriend Katerina (Nadine Velazquez) after
a night of partying. Still feeling the repercussions from the
previous night, he has a hit of cocaine in order to sober himself up
before his next flight.
However during the flight, his plane is bombarded with bad weather and
the unthinkable happens. The controls of the plane become unresponsive
and neither him or his co-pilot (Brian Geraghty) can break the deadly
nose dive of this plane. Even though Whitaker is fuelled on alcohol on
drugs, he manages the unthinkable and somehow averts this disaster and
successfully lands the plane, rescuing the majority of souls on this plane,
96 to be precise. Regrettably, six passengers died.
The
story of Flight is about Whitaker's journey, a washed up pilot who is
divorced and is now facing a criminal investigation of negligence if the
authorities can prove that he had alcohol and drugs in his system.
Fortunately for Whitaker, he has close friend and union leader in his
corner (Bruce Greenwood) who hires an ace lawyer (Don Cheadle) to make
his toxicology tests disappear. Also joining Whitaker on his journey is
Nicole (Kelly Reilly), a heroine junkie who at the same time of
Whitaker's plane crash had her own near death experience. Both
Nicole and Whitaker form a relationship in hospital, however as Nicole
wishes to change her life, she is unable to help her new partner break
his own addictions.
From here, it's a rollercoaster ride for Whitaker as all the mistakes in
his life lead to breaking point.
Flight is a very engaging movie that is
directed well by Zemeckis who manages to create this interesting story
with realistic characters. Denzel Washington is brilliant as the broken
pilot as is Bruce Greenwood, a close friend who refuses to give up on him.
Even though the content of Flight is quite dark at times, there is a glimmer of
light with John Goodman as Whitaker's dealer Harling Mays who injects an
element of comedy into this series film. Even though this character does
seem out of place, it actually injects a much needed boost in this
gritty drama.
Video, Audio & Special Features
The
video quality on Blu-ray is impressive with sharp images and vibrant
colours when used. Audio is a little bit of a mixed bag and certain
scenes such as the hospital stair scene is a little hard to hear and the
music is at times a little too loud. Nonetheless, the special features
of Flight are quite interesting and goes into the inspirations, special
effects and interviews with key people involved in making this film.
All in all, it's a great release from Paramount!
Special Features
Origins of Flight
The Making of Flight
Anatomy of a Plane Crash
Q & A Highlights
Flight
is definitely one of the must see movies of 2013!
