Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Nadine Velazquez | ... | Katerina Marquez | |
Denzel Washington | ... | Whip Whitaker | |
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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.) | |
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Will Sherrod | ... | Schecter |
Boni Yanagisawa | ... | Camelia Satou | |
Adam Tomei | ... | Fran | |
Dane Davenport | ... | Derek Hogue | |
John Crow | ... | Field Reporter | |
Bruce Greenwood | ... | Charlie Anderson |
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 was 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... Written by Immanuel Ambhara
Flight (2012)
**** (out of 4)
Denzel Washington turns in one of the strongest performances of his career playing Walt Whitaker, a pilot who becomes an overnight hero after he saves the majority of the passengers on a doomed plane. Soon after becoming a hero Walt starts to get questioned on whether or not he was up all night partying and in fact was flying the plane drunk and soon he's forced to face himself and the events. Robert Zemeckis has certainly delivered a very entertaining, honest and depressing look at a man who seems to be good at just about everything except being honest with himself. Going into the picture I really wasn't sure what to expect but the film turned out to be great from start to finish and it's certainly one of the more honest looks at an alcoholic to come along in a while. The screenplay by John Gatins is extremely well-written and I think it deserves a lot of credit because I really appreciated the way we get to know this character. Because it's Denzel you're automatically going to want him to do good but the challenging aspects of the screenplay are so well handled by the actor and director that you really do feel like you're getting a complete character study. Zemeckis adds in some great song selections, the cinematography is top notch and there's no question that the film contains some excellent and tense drama. The Q&S session is perfectly handled and the crash sequence is one of the most chilling I've ever seen. Washington is excellent in the role of the troubled pilot as he contains that charm we all love but it also gives the actor a chance to give a full performance. He's so great at everything he does I think he often doesn't get the chance to do a role as complete as this one but he proves why he's one of the best out there. John Goodman, Don Cheadle and Kelly Reilly are all great in their supporting roles as well. You've also got to give everyone credit for not watering down the material and going for a safe and clean PG-13 rating. While there's nothing overly offensive here, the R-rating does allow for an honest and open look at this very flawed character. FLIGHT is certainly one of the years best films.