Film Review: Flight (3.0/5.0)

Spin. It makes the world of entertainment go round and no more so than in film. And by its very nature, marketing spin can oversell and misrepresent. So, when it comes to this latest film from director Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump) starring Denzel Washington, it’s best to be selective in what you believe.

I knew very little about Flight going in – sometimes the best way to be but increasingly hard in today’s digital world – but the descriptives used in the marketing material had me intrigued. On Flight’s official site it’s described as an “action-packed, mystery thriller.”

Based on the film’s opening 30 odd minutes, that’s pretty accurate. We meet Whip Whitaker (Washington) in bed after a boozy night of passion, a lithe young woman gratuitously strolling the hotel room naked as Whip snorts some coke as a pick me up.

But Whip is a veteran commercial pilot and he’s about to face undoubtedly the most terrifying flight of his career. First, he coolly overcomes some horrifying turbulence and just as horrifyingly we witness the cocky Whip as he reassures passengers while surreptitiously mixing a screwdriver.

Then, against all odds, he manages to land the plane after a monumental mechanical failure sends it into a terrifying plummet with only six of the 102 “souls” on board perishing. The media unsurprisingly hail Whip a hero but doubts soon emerge as to his fitness to fly and his culpability in the crash. An investigation begins.

It’s around this point that the spin starts to ring false. “As more is learned, more questions than answers arise as to who or what was really at fault and what really happened on that plane,” so says the official synopsis.

After its first heart-stopping half hour, Flight is hardly “action-packed” nor is it much of a “mystery thriller”. In retrospect it’s pretty obvious “who or what was at fault” early on thanks to some blatant signposting. No, Flight is more a meditative redemption/addiction drama. And if you take it as that, it’s a strong though fairly preachy one.

The hype you can believe is that as expected, Washington is a tour de force as the spiralling substance abuser Whip. While there’s his signature stoicism and cocky charm, it’s a vanity free performance from Washington who has scored an Oscar nomination for his troubles. When he’s out of his pilot uniform he’s often dishevelled and lets it all hang out; he reportedly gained around ten kilograms for the role, quit drinking for the shoot (ironically) and looked to YouTube to gain an accurate take on drunken behaviour.

But Washington leaves room for other cast members to shine including Kelly Reilly (Sherlock Holmes) as a recovering drug addict and Whip’s love interest, Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda) as his wily attorney, an almost unregnisable Melissa Leo (The Fighter) as his efficacious chief inquisitor and John Goodman (The Big Lebowski) who brings some welcome comic relief as his irreverent hippy pal and drug dealer.

The flight sequences are harrowing, stomach-churning and technically brilliant. You can’t tell that this is a low budget film (sub $US30 million) in Hollywood terms at least. And it’s nice to see Zemeckis doing live action again – his last live action film was Castaway with Tom Hanks in 2000 before he embarked on a series of motion capture films.

It’s just a shame that the screenplay by John Gatins (Coach Carter) relies too heavily on some incredulous coincidences, all too obvious religious references and most strikingly, the dangling carrot of some greater mystery, some spine-tingling thriller that (apart from the first act) never really materialises.

Like the promise of a First Class flight only to be downgraded to Business, Flight left me feeling partially satisfied but also cheated.

Film: 3.0/5.0 stars

Starring: Denzel Washington, Kelly Reilly, Don Cheadle, John Goodman, Bruce Greenwood.

Director: Robert Zemeckis.

Written By: John Gatins.

Rated: MA 15+

Genre: Drama

Year: 2012

Run Time: 139 minutes.

Out: Now.