Flight Review

 Number 987 on the top 1000 films of all time is Robert Zemeckis' drama 'Flight.'

William 'Whip' Whitaker (Denzel Washington) is a pilot with a drinking problem. When the plane he is piloting malfunctions, he successfully performs a crash-landing resulting in only six deaths out of a complement of 102. But the subsequent investigation raises questions about his sobriety while on the job.

I often find Denzel Washington very over-the-top. Or maybe that's the roles he chooses to play. But I think that the character of Whip played to his strengths. He wasn't a larger-than-life character, but a tragic hero looking for redemption. Washington brought a wonderful amount of vulnerability to the role. It was a sensitive portrayal of a man who is desperately hiding from the world. And he does redeem himself when he ultimately does the right thing at the end.

It also surprised me to learn that it was Robert Zemeckis directing this film. I would argue that he is best well-known for directing comedies particularly the Back to the Future franchise. But he did make a very interesting drama film with well-rounded performances. It was well-paced and took us into some nice emotional depths. Although maybe this shouldn't be so surprising as he did win the Oscar for directing Forrest Gump.

But I was less convinced by Whip's relationship with prostitute/junkie Nicole (Kelly Reilly.) The two characters are very similar. They are both addicts. They are both looking for redemption. I don't want to take anything away from Kelly Reilly. She gave a sensitive portrayal of an emotionally damaged character. And her American accent was so good that I would never have guessed that she is actually a Londoner. But she and Whip were portrayed as star-crossed lovers. And I didn't see enough evidence to justify such a conclusion.

Yet this didn't stop Flight from being a very good film with a wonderfully understated performance by Denzel Washington.