In his first live action film that he directed since Cast Away 12 years ago which earned Tom Hanks an Oscar nomination, Robert Zemeckis is back with Flight, a character driven film with another two-time winner as the lead actor Denzel Washington who gives his best performance since Training Day.
Washington plays Whip Whitaker, a divorced pilot who successfully saves all but six passengers and crew on a regular routine flight from Orlando to Atlanta plane from total disaster after a freak accident due to bad weather. Hailed as a hero, Whitaker's new found glory may be short-lived as investigators unravel his inner demon: alcoholism.
Just like in Cast Away, Zemeckis directs a film about a character struggling to recover after an incident that could had almost killed him. The plane crash and landing scenes were excellent and everything after that turns into a character study of Whip's condition and addiction that can make or break him. Kelly Reilly playing a junkie named Nicole is a standout among the supporting cast and so is Don Cheadle as a lawyer willing to help Washington's character to overcome the legal obstacles at all cost. After Argo, John Goodman makes it two for two in this film as Whitaker's drug dealing best friend.
After being at the helm of three animated films in a row (The Polar Express, Beowulf and A Christmas Carol), it was quite a shock for me (and I believe most of the audience as well at the screening) that the first scene of Flight involves drugs, full frontal nudity and alcohol. I thought I was in a Scorsese film. Robert Zemeckis finally evolved as a film director and anchored by Denzel Washington's award worthy performance make this a FLIGHT to remember.
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