Flight (I) (2012)

An airline pilot saves almost all his passengers on his malfunctioning airliner which eventually crashed, but an investigation into the accident reveals something troubling.

Director:

Robert Zemeckis

Writer:

John Gatins

Stars:

Nadine Velazquez, Denzel Washington, John Goodman

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 31 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nadine Velazquez	...	Katerina Marquez
Denzel Washington	...	Whip Whitaker
Carter Cabassa	...	Son on Plane
Adam C. Edwards	...	Father on Plane (as Adam Ciesielski)
Tamara Tunie	...	Margaret Thomason
Brian Geraghty	...	Ken Evans
Kelly Reilly	...	Nicole
Conor O'Neill	...	Kip
Charlie E. Schmidt	...	Tiki Pot (as Charlie E. Schmidt Jr.)
Will Sherrod	...	Schecter
Boni Yanagisawa	...	Camelia Satou
Adam Tomei	...	Fran
Dane Davenport	...	Derek Hogue
John Crow	...	Field Reporter
Bruce Greenwood	...	Charlie Anderson

Storyline

Whip Whitaker is a commuter airline pilot. While on a flight from Orlando to Atlanta something goes wrong and the plane starts to fly erratically. With little choice Whip crashes the plane and saves almost all on board. When he wakes up in the hospital, his friend from the airline union introduces him to a lawyer who tells him there's a chance he could face criminal charges because his blood test reveals that he is intoxicated with alcohol and cocaine. He denies being impaired, so while an investigation is underway, he is told to keep his act together. However, letting go of his addiction is not as easy as it seems...

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Plot Keywords:

lawyer | blood | addiction | cocaine | alcoholic | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for drug and alcohol abuse, language, sexuality/nudity and an intense action sequence

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 November 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

El vuelo

Filming Locations:

Atlanta First United Methodist Church - 360 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$31,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$24,900,566 (USA) (2 November 2012)

Gross:

$93,749,203 (USA) (8 February 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

ImageMovers, Paramount Pictures, Parkes/MacDonald Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

138 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The script was first optioned by Denzel Washington's then agent Ed Limato who'd been kicking it around Hollywood for several months until Denzel showed interest. However, in order to get the film made with the studio's modest take-it-or-leave-it $28m budget, Washington and director Robert Zemeckis accepted a reported tenth of their usual salaries.

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Goofs

While Whip is in his hospital bed, the NTSB agent sets down a recorder. The light on the recorder is "blinking" red, which means it is paused in recording mode. If it were recording, the red light would be "solid". It does turn solid at the end when the agent motions to turn the recorder off -- which is really "record".

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Quotes

Gaunt Young Man: As soon as you realize that the random events in your life are God... you will live a much better life. You spend your life believing that you have all the control over what happens. Bullshit. The plane you're flying goes down? Out of your control. God gives you cancer. I have no control over that. Did God give me cancer? You bet your ass God gave me cancer. You think if I begged for cancer God would have given it to me? No... because I assure you I have begged for God to take it away - and ...

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Connections

References Apocalypse Now (1979)

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Soundtracks

"With a Little Help From My Friends"
Written by John Lennon & Paul McCartney

User Reviews

Only soars on Denzel Washington's fantastic performance

Flight is the kind of movie that studio marketing departments seem to hate. Watching the trailer, it gives the feeling of a lighter film, dramatic, with some suspense. It does not, however, indicate that this is an incredibly dark film about the depths and perils of addiction. The trailer gives a completely different idea of what this movie is going to be about, but with Denzel Washington's "Whip" Whitaker doing cocaine about thirty seconds into the runtime, one can safely throw away any thoughts they may have had about it.

Mr. Washington stars as Captain Whitaker, piloting a flight from Florida to Georgia; a relatively short flight, but when something goes wrong at 30,000 feet, the quick-thinking and talented Whip rolls the plane to pull it out of its dive and ends up crash-landing, saving the lives of all but six people on-board the plane. The namesake sequence of the film is probably its best, filled with amazing tension and some stellar effects.

Washington absolutely shines in this role, and being an actor of immeasurable talent, there is no question why he is up for an Academy Award for best actor. His acting is the kind of amazing that doesn't even require words- near the end of the film, his performance is absolutely heartbreaking, and Denzel Washington wears it in his face. Sadly, the rest of the film (outside of scene-stealing performances from John Goodman and James Badge Dale) isn't really up to par. The film follows Whip's self-destructive alcoholism as he is caught up in an investigation into the cause of the plane crash; friends try to help him and are spurned, he is alienated from his family, and he finds fleeting comfort in strangers such as Nicole (Kelly Reilly).

This is where the film runs into problems, however. It wastes far too much screen time developing Nicole's character only to drop her off the face of the Earth. She enters Whip's life as a common ally, someone battling her own demons and addictions, but she is seeking help. She then vanishes from it just as quickly. Her character isn't all that interesting to begin with, and the same can be said for most of the rest of the characters and the story in the film; they only serve as a backdrop, a mirror through which Whip's many, many demons are reflected.

Flight is, unfortunately, a film without much of a sense of direction. Robert Zemeckis seems to be all over the place, pouring multitudes of attention into Nicole's character, the plane crash, and Whip battling his demons, and it never seems to make up its mind as to what it's about. The film never, for a moment, questions whether Whip is actually at fault for the plane crash, and in fact it was his actions that saved many lives. Maybe it is Washington's poise and gravitas in the scene, but it never feels like Whip isn't in control. True that he is drunk and on drugs, and has many serious, serious problems, but saving the lives of ninety-six people (himself included) wasn't one of them. So while the plane crash story is certainly interesting, there's never any doubt about exactly how it is going to play out.

Flight could have been a better film if it had capitalized on the success of the tension it so well displayed early during the plane crash. Whip's story, his battles with his numerous demons- and ultimately, his freedom from them- are moving and wonderful to watch. If Zemeckis hadn't tried to shoehorn in this ridiculous investigation plot that never really merits any attention, it would have been that much better. Washington gives a five-star performance, but the rest of Flight lands at a dismal Three and a half out of Five Stars.

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