FLIGHT

After years working in the field of performance capture, Oscar-winning director Robert Zemeckis returned to live-action filmmaking with ‘Flight’, his first since the remarkable ‘Cast Away’ (2000). With Denzel Washington in the lead and a fascinating central premise, this promised to be an exciting return for the beloved filmmaker, whose distinctive and uncompromising style had made many of his previous films instant classics. ‘Flight’ promises a lot... but this one may not entirely leave the ground.

Pilot Whip Whitaker (Denzel Washington) becomes a national hero when he pulls a remarkable and daring manoeuvre trying to prevent the commercial flight he is piloting from an horrific crash. Whitaker, however, is also a raging alcoholic and drug addict, in complete denial, and this may be enough to have him charged for manslaughter for the handful of deaths from the crash. Refusing to accept that he has a problem, Whip smashes through his life and the people around him, including reformed addict Nicole (Kelly Reilly), another lost soul who tries to connect with Whip and help him accept.

‘Flight’ is almost entirely worth the effort for its first fifteen minutes, encompassing the crash itself. With ‘Cast Away’, Zemeckis had executed a terrifying crash sequence. For this film, he’s almost outdone himself with something even more intense and visually staggering. It’s a tremendous way to open a film, combining Whip’s intoxicated incoherence with the disaster that clearly isn’t the pilot’s fault. The mystery of the crash and the post-crash investigation are the most intriguing aspects of the film, and how Whip can navigate through suspicion when his flaws are so clear. Unfortunately, ‘Flight’ seems more interested in becoming a character study of Whip’s addiction, and after a thrilling first act, the film quickly becomes flabby and uninteresting, throwing in character scene after character scene with very little to drive the movie forward. It isn’t helped by the presence of Nicole, who, for all of of Reilly’s great work, seems like nothing more than an ill-conceived plot point: a character only there to tell Whip he needs help before completely disappearing. Very few of writer John Gatins’ characters are actually likable, especially Whip, who seems to just make stupid mistake after stupid mistake, so that the point where he finally takes responsibility for his problems falls completely flat. We don’t feel anything for Whip taking the reins of his life because we’ve spent over two hours watching him act in such a petulant, irredeemable way. The film looks great, but the rhythm is plodding and Gatins’ dialogue is generally obvious, sometimes hilariously so. There are too many themes at play here, and the film sags horribly under the weight.