Flight

A Contemplative Adult Drama About Addiction Featuring One Of Denzel Washington's Most Complex Performances
I know that some viewers might feel like there is a bit of a bait-and-switch when sitting down to watch the very adult drama "Flight." I was primed to see a movie about a harrowing plane crash. And indeed, this initiating sequence is staged with tremendous suspense and gut wrenching detail. It may be one of the more memorable scenes you are likely to see this year. But "Flight" is not really about this crash. It is, instead, a character study about addiction, about faith, and about taking responsibility. The heroic pilot that acted on that day is none other than Denzel Washington. But this is no ordinary hero, this is a mess of a man who fuels his life with drugs and drink. He is estranged from his family, defying propriety, and thinks that the rules don't apply to him. He's a great pilot, to be sure, that saved many souls. But he was also completely out of control when he did so. That is the moral dilemma at the heart of the movie. He is a hero. His bad acts did not...

One of the best films I've ever seen
Now, when I first saw this movie I had no idea what it was about. I only knew that it had a tremendous Oscar-winning actor playing the role of a pilot. I had no idea I was in for such a wild ride. I will point out first and foremost that this is a very well put together piece of cinema. The acting, pacing, cinematography, character development is nothing short of top-notch. That being said, I can understand how marketing and trailers could have caused many people to become mislead to what the film would be covering as many of the negative reviewers seemed to have missed the point. This movie was about a plane crash in the way that The Shawshank Redemption was about escaping prison. Yes, those are both the fundamental plot points but they're more like a side effect of the central themes. (Not to say that the crash scene in Flight wasn't one of the most intense scenes I'd seen in years or that the prison escape scene in Shawshank didn't give me an all encompassing feeling of joy). But...

Not a movie about a plane crash
This is a powerful movie about a man you to want to love's struggle with alcoholism, he just happened to be in a plane crash. This is not a courtroom drama, not an action flick (the plane crash happens in the first 30 min of the movie and lasts maybe 5-10 minutes tops, after that all drama.

The movie starts out with an epic plane crash scene, one of the best I've ever seen in a movie. Denzel's character takes control of the plane like a pro, with every ounce of drug and alcohol seemingly vaporized from his system and his instincts as an ex-Navy fighter pilot take over.

The movie is great in it has you rooting for this guy throughout, but he keeps letting you down as the viewer, as well as all of the characters in his life. You saw how awesome this guy was in the cockpit, he was a hero, yet he cannot overcome this addiction. How can a man who could do such extraordinary things be so vulnerable to addiction? The movie does this part very well.

The most...

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