C
Pardon the pun, but Robert Zemeckis' first live-action film since CAST AWAY manages to nose-dive almost as soon as it takes off because the director forgot his "Subtlety for Dummies" book before he arrived on set.
Look, you can't (and shouldn't) expect the guy responsible for great American schmaltz like "Forrest Gump" to fingerpaint with anything but broad strokes, but FLIGHT's anti-addiction message has as much subtlety as an after-school special or a very important episode of MTV's "Real World."
Denzel Washington, mostly coasting on vehicles like SAFE HOUSE lately, brings it like he hasn't in a while, finally choosing to play a conflicted and vulnerable guy whose morals and actions come into question at an unfortunate time. And that crash sequence even rivals the intensity and technical prowess of Zemeckis' CAST AWAY Fed Ex plane crash. You find out early on (in the trailer, in fact) that Denzel had alcohol in his system when he landed the crashing plane safely, so you'd think the story encounters the challenge of prosecuting a drunk pilot even when he saved hundreds of lives. But instead, you get a by-the-numbers "Drugs and alcohol are bad, mkay?" PSA with one of the most unnecessary love interests ever and biggest copout endings you'll see at this level of filmmaking.
The story is compelling enough, and Denzel mostly delivers. But a waste of a brilliant supporting cast (John Goodman, Don Cheadle, Bruce Greenwood, Meliisa Leo) and an embarrassingly in-your-face objective can't keep this bird afloat, er, above the clouds.
A review by Ben Flanagan