Flight [DVD]

Denzel Washington never fails to put in a brilliant performance. The film and story line are brilliant. Washington plays a brilliantly talented and experienced, but arrogant Captain of a Passenger Airline. He is however, an alcoholic drug abusing pilot.The start of the film sees his character flying an internal American flight under the influence of alcohol although not presenting as drunk to his co-pilot and crew. The plane goes out of control due to a catastrophic manufacturing fault. Falling from the skies fast with everyone on board doomed, Denzil's character, remaining calm, takes some last ditch crazy and an unheard of courses of actions by inverting the plane, slowing its speed and descent and then righting the plane up the right way gliding to safety with only 6 lives lost.Running through the film is the dichotomy of Washington's extreme bravery that saved so many lives contrasting with his extreme arrogance and refusal to face his drink dependence depicted by flying drunk. No other pilot would have had the ability to glide the plane to safety and would have caused all on board to lose their lives.You see his character slowly stripped of his arrogance. His further descent into drink and drugs and facing life in prison for 6 counts of manslaughter if the public enquiry finds out he had been drunk, sees his own personal decline in character willing to do and say anything to protect himself and his career and freedom. The realisation of real imprisonment sees him testing the friendship of the surviving crew on board asking them in various ways not to testify that he had been drinking. The airline put themselves on the line to back up Washington and arrange a cover up. Washington is unable to remain sober, even for the Enquiry, despite his own attempts to stop drinking along with the protection of the airline.Will he take the way out offered to him by the airline to blame a dead crew member for the missing alcohol bottles on board? Thereby tarnishing her memory forever despite her having saved the life of a little child. Or will he finally take responsibility for his own actions?A thought provoking film in that but for the drunk Washington flying the plane all would be dead. There is no doubt that the accident was caused by a major part of the plane detaching and falling off mid flight. However, their lives were in danger by being flown by an intoxicated pilot. It also demonstrates the difficulty of drink dependant people to find and take the path to recognition and fight for sobriety.

An exceptional movie with Denzel Washington giving his best performance since 'The Book of Eli'. The film is well constructed, starting off by showing William 'Whip' Whittaker absolutely smashed and high off his face just before his SouthJet Flight 227 to Atlanta, which takes a perilous turn as the plane malfunctions and dives at dangerous speeds. Whip saves the day by miraculously inverting the plane and causing less of a disaster than what otherwise would've been. People may think that after the crash nothing exciting will happen, but that's not true, Flight is always gripping, and the acting is so convincing that you will find yourself digging for the characters, and worrying about their futures and the outcome of the main character. Flight is a fantastic character study of this anti-hero, who actually has a high level of blood alcohol and drugs in him before the flight, and officials and lawyers are all out after him to determine whether he's guilty or not. There's no denying here, Denzel Washington can act! His performance keeps the film flowing superbly even after the truly alarming plane sequence. Kelly Reilly is excellent too, it's good to see strong British talent showing off, and Reilly is one to watch! Don Cheadle, John Goodman, Brian Geraghty, Bruce Greenwood and the rest of the cast deliver stunning performances too, this is acting at it's best. Flight is hands down of the best movies of 2013 already, it's just a shame Washington didn't get an Oscar for such a gritty and spectacular performance.

How can a movie initiate such a diverse and polarised range of opinions as this feedback suggests? Clearly it is not the movie itself that is responsible, as that is a constant, so it must be about the diversity of thinking styles and/or capability of the viewer.In terms of genre, this movie has two distinct styles or elements. It starts as an action movie and ends as a drama - a study of the human condition and psychology. Only if you appreciate and understand both elements, will you enjoy this film.I believe, and most seem to agree, that this is a very well made action movie. Most of us enjoy the thrill of danger and this movie succeeds in suspending reality for a good number of minutes in a completely involving struggle to keep the aircraft in the air. This part of the movie engages our primal instincts and demands little of our intellect.The rest of the movie is primarily about relationships and the damage caused to them by addiction. It is also about a personal battle with alcohol and drug addiction and the psychology of that. This part demands of the viewer a modicum of empathy, mental creativity and the ability to think. The possession of a well-defined value set might also be an asset here. I suspect these are elements of intelligence. If you lack it, you may find yourself sleeping through the most impactful scenes.So, make a judgement (if you are able) as to whether you are reasonably clever or not, and you will be able to work out whether or not this is a movie for you.As to the 4 stars I give it, 1 is dropped because, for me, the conclusion of the film was not completely convincing. In my experience, honesty follows sobriety, it doesn't precede it.

I have not seen one of his film I have not liked. He is the easy going bloke you rarely see in film these days but when it comes to action, he is at the front of the queue. It goes to show no matter how good you think you are with drugs, they will win in the end. The ending of this film was excellent and for me well worth watching.

You won't regret watching this. Outstanding.