"Flight" is Worth the Ticket

The previews were intriguing, the reviews pretty good, I like Denzel Washington, plus I had 3 1/2 hours to kill in Morgan Hill. What does that add up to? A trip to the cinema to see "Flight". About veteran commercial airline pilot Whip Whitaker (Really? That was the best name they could come up with?) whose Orlando to Atlanta flight develops mechanical problems that forces the 102 person airliner into a seemingly unstoppable nose dive. That is until Captain Whitaker decides to try the unthinkable.....invert the airliner with the hopes of leveling it out. I won't tell you what happens after that, except that Captain Whitaker obviously survives, as well as most of the passengers. This makes Whip an instant hero....until the results of the routine blood tests, required of each crew member involved in an incident like this, are released. You guessed it: Whip's blood test results come up positive for alcohol and drugs.

And this is when the heart of the movie really begins.

During the next 90 minutes or so, we learn all about Whip's serious drinking problem, and his denial of having one. We watch him continually reject any help offered to him, from his ultra-Christian co-pilot to Nicole, a young female companion he meets during his hospital stay and who's battling a drug problem of her own. We also discover how his drinking ended his marriage and has strained his relationship with his teenage son. To make matters even worse, Whip is facing an impending hearing that could result in manslaughter charges filed against him, due to his condition during the flight. Helping him on that front are old buddy Charlie Anderson (Bruce Greenwood) and lawyer Hugh Lang (Don Cheadle). Despite having his best interest at heart, Whip continually fights them as well.

Well, for a long time, with Whip fighting everyone, it looks like the inevitable is going to happen. Of course I'm not going to spoil it and actually tell you what really does happen, but I will say that the final 30 minutes were exceptionally good, and the movie concluded in a very fulfilling way. At least for me.  That is, except for one scene which I still don't quite understand. How did the security officer standing guard in front of Whip's hotel room the entire night prior to his court hearing not hear the rucus that had to have gone on in the room during the night? That's all I'll say, but if you've seen the movie, you'll now what I mean!

In a nutshell, I really enjoyed the story, and the acting was for the most part top notch, particularly Denzel Washington who should probably receive a Best Actor nod next January. I say for the most part because I thought John Goodman's character as Whip's hippy throwback drug supplier was a bit over the top and cartoonish. The rest of the supporting cast was very good though. I'm a big Don Cheadle fan, so I particularly enjoyed his work as the airliner's attorney.

Oh, and one final meaningless observation about "Flight": it earned it's "R" rating faster than any other movie I can think of off the top of my head.....literally within seconds after the movie started.  Anyhow, just thought that was interesting....

Using my rating system (1= skip it, 2= rent it, 3= worth a matinee, 4= worth full price), I'd definitely give "Flight" a "4". I thoroughly enjoyed it. Definitely more than I was expecting.