2012: The Year in Film: "Flight" Review

Robert Zemeckis is a pretty damn acclaimed and esteemed director, if he has a tendency to be overly broad in ways that Spielberg wouldn't even have dreamed.  Still, when you cut your teeth doing things like the Back to the Future movies, Forrest Gump and Castaway before spending a decade revolutionizing stop-motion animation, your return to live action will be cause for attention.  Throw in the fact that Denzel Washington will be starring in an obvious awards bait performance... and Flight was a flick that I immediately took notice of from the time the first trailer hit the interwebs.  Denzel is an interesting case for me.. because on the one hand there's no doubt that he's a charming, charismatic and incredibly talented actor, but he also is pretty much always just Denzel.  He's always playing shades of the same character, which is why I can't remember a single one of his character's names right off, despite enjoying many of his movies.  He's either mad Denzel, or wise Denzel, or badass Denzel or Coach Denzel or drunk Denzel or insert an adjective here.  He's from the George Clooney school of acting, which is why I'll never argue that Denzel is a "great" actor, despite the fact that he probably is.  So how is Flight?  Let's check it out.

Flight features airline captain Whip Whitaker, a gifted pilot who also has some serious personal problems.  He's driven most of his friends and family away and spends his nights partying way too hard and his days in a drunken haze.  One fateful morning something causes the plane he's piloting on a hangover into a steep dive and he's forced to pull a rabbit out of his hat to save the lives of just about everyone on board.  He finds himself at the center of a media firestorm as the NTSB uncovers some troubling facts about that fateful flight.

The Good: Denzel turns in a tremendous performance.  Despite the fact that Whip doesn't have a lot of positive attributes, you can't help but root for the guy, even has he wallows farther and farther into a pit of addiction, self-despair and self-destruction.  He's incredibly charming and charismatic in a role that I'm not sure very many other actors could have pulled off.  The plot flows pretty smoothly and isn't what you'd expect either from the trailer or from a typical major motion picture featuring such A-list talent.   Bruce Greenwood and John Goodman also turn in strong supporting performances but make no mistake, this is the Denzel show. Don Cheadle turns in an effective and understanded performance as an attorney for the pilot's union as well.   If this wasn't such a strong year for movies in general and male leading performances in specific, I'd say Denzel had a really good shot at Best Actor.  It also gives a brutal, honest look at alcoholism that goes right up there with the great cinematic depictions of the disease like Leaving Las Vegas. 
The Bad: when it comes down to it, the flick is just too damn broad and on point to truly be effective. There are some questionable music choices, let's just say it isn't exactly original to play Velvet Underground while someone is shooting heroin. If someone is blasting rails and pounding entire bottles of liquor, playing The Rolling Stones is just way too safe of a move. Plus, the resolution is just too damn "Hallmark-ey" to be a great movie. Everyone knows that alcoholism and addiction are bad.. ideally there should be more to the theme of a memorable flick than that. And between Jenny in Forrest Gump and Nicole here, I think it's safe to say that Zemeckis has a junkie with a heart of gold in his past. In all, this is a solid, watchable, entertaining flick with an outstanding performance from a true A-lister at the top of his game at the center. Ultimately it's well worth watching but simply too broad, too simplistic and too paint-by-numbers to add anything "great" to movies. Well worth a watch, but ultimately short of greatness, or even being truly memorable. 7/10.