Whip Whitaker (Denzel Washington) has a secret…He’s an alcholic/coke addict…Whip is also an extraordinary pilot who miraculously crash lands a plane after a mid-air catastrophe, saving all but 6 people on board.
After the crash, Whip is hailed a ‘hero’, but he certainly doesn’t feel like one. To avoid the press, he escapes to his childhood farm where he tries to kick the booze.
At first, he’s successful…Even has some help from an exjunkie (Kelly Reilly) who he met during his hospital stay. All goes well at first…No alchol and lots of loving from Kelly. But when National Transportation Board starts to investigate Whip for being high on the morning of the flight (which he was) Whip once again, picks up the bottle and doesn’t put it down until…Well don’t want to SPOIL anything, so I better move on.
The big problem I had with ‘Flight’ directed by Robert Zemckis (‘Forest Gump’, ‘Castaway’) is that the film had a very familiar, ‘old fashion’ feel to it. It’s a story we’ve seen so many times…An alcoholic who won’t face the fact that he is an ‘alcoholic’.
There’s really nothing new here. Denzel does a good job portraying a character in denial, but we never learn what causes him to drink…We never see or understand Whip’s demons and for me, that’s a big problem.
The supporting cast is fine…John Goodman as the comic relief, gives a very entertaining, over the top performance as Whip’s drug dealer…
Don Cheadle, Whip’s lawyer and Bruce Greenwood, head of Pilots union spend most of their time trying to keep Whip sober.
Finally, Brian Gereghty as Whip’s born-again co-pilot was quite good.
‘Flight’ written by John Gatine, opens in theatres Friday, November 2, 2012. I gave it 2 1/2 bagels out of 5 with a schmeer. Check out our video to see John’s rating and for more of our bantering.
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