“Another day, another movie. Today’s journey sent us to Flight, the new Denzel movie helmed by Robert Zemeckis. Y’know, the guy who did Back the Future and Forrest Gump and a few other gems along the way.
Considering how tapped into the scene I try to be and the big names attached to this film, it took a while for it to land on my radar. I saw it listed on the upcoming movies on IMDB, with the attached names. Didnt really start seeing the trailers until a couple weeks ago. But in the last week or so the buzz has been really building. The story on its own may not have been quite enough to grab my attention, but the team and the talk about the film certainly did.
Flight is the story of Whip Whitaker, a pilot who was able to land his failing plane, saving most of the lives on board. But while everyone is touting him as a hero, he’s hiding his alcoholism, and the fact that he was under the influence of several substances at the time of the flight. While the trailers focus on the heroism and the flight, the real focus of the story is on his battle with alcohol.
But the actual plane crash stuff was crazy. I was completely tense for the first thirty minutes of the film. From there, as the story progressed, there was a different kind of tension. Every time that Whip would go grabbing for a bottle after having been sober for a couple days, I’d be holding my breath. I’d cringe and wince when he’d give in. I was so absorbed in this film that my movie buddy and I didn’t even acknowledge each other throughout the entire thing.
Denzel was just amazing. I know we expect that of him by this point, but truly he was. He took what should have been a dark character and made him incredibly sympathetic. You do see him as a hero, and you do see him as someone struggling, trying not to hit bottom. Just an incredibly nuanced performance, and worth watching.
Flight – \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/