Flight - Denzil Washington doesn't make bad movies

Denzel Washington seems to always make good films.  I'm not talking about masterpieces here or claiming that he's always a huge box-office draw, but whenever Denzel Washington is in a film I immediately expect the it to be at least passable or better.  I don't think I've ever seen a Denzel Washington film that was genuinely bad.  Case in point was Unstoppable a few years back.  It's a film that should have been terrible, but turned out to be pretty good.  Solid film from a solid actor who has consistently delivered solid performances for years.

And so we come to Flight, the Denzel Washington film of 2012 in which he plays an alcoholic airline pilot named Whip who saves a doomed plane from crashing out of the sky by performing an incredible maneuver that involves flying his passenger airline upside-down.  Disregarding the physics of this maneuver for a second (though a quick google search indicates that the plausibility of the feat is greater than I had originally assumed), it's a dramatic event that confirms Whip as a hero.  Until the investigators find out that he had alcohol and drugs swimming around his system at the time of the crash.  Whip awakes in hospital to find that only 6 people died in the crash - including the air hostess with whom he had spent the previous night.  The media are hailing him a hero, but the crash investigation team and his lawyers know that his secret cannot stay hidden for long.

Flight is a film about redemption and saving people both literally and spiritually.  Religion plays an important part in the film.  Whip's co-pilot Ken is an ardent Christian who sees his survival in the crash as a message from god to change, when in hospital Whip meets Nicole - an alcoholic in rehab who makes it her mission to try to save him from himself.  Whip of course is responsible for the saving of nearly 100 lives when he successfully brings the plane to the ground - but is he capable of saving himself?  As Whip is encouraged to better himself and clean his act up to survive the inquiry into the crash he struggles to cope without booze, is he better trying to change himself or simply being the man he really is?  At several points in the film Whip looks to the heavens as planes meander by, whether he's looking to the sky for salvation or lamenting his ostracisation from the life that brought him fame and joy is unclear.  What is clear is that he knows his life has to change, but has no idea how to do it.

Flight is a film that has a bit of action, a bit of wit, a bit of courtroom drama, a bit of spirituality and quite a bit of nudity in its opening scene.  As we see Whip for the first time waking up in his hotel room he takes a phone call as air hostess Katerina prances around in the buff behind him for several minutes - for no apparent reason.  As far as I can tell this is one of the only things in the movie that ensures the film has a 15 rating, it's almost as if the scene's there to ensure the film gets the 15 rating.  Though Whip's near-continual use of cocaine in the film is probably worthy of the 15 rating too.  Probably.

In conclusion, Flight is a surprisingly good film.  For a film that tries to be a little bit action, a little bit silly (Jon Goodman hamming it to the max) and a little spiritual - it mixes them up quite well.  Though as I said at the top of the review, Denzel Washington doesn't do bad movies - so perhaps we shouldn't be surprised at all.