”Flight” Movie Review

A well-known filmmaker Robert Zemeckis got a reputation as a state of the art filmmaker in 1985 when he directed the comedic time travel “Back to The Future” film series. He went on to make Academy Award movies such as ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit” and “Forest Gump” (June 3, 2011). “Flight” stars a well-rounded acting veteran Denzel Washington. Washington plays a flight captain, Whip Whittaker, who is at the difficult time in his life battling drug and alcohol addiction as a flight captain. He becomes a hero and has to make a decision that can change his life. After reviewing the movie we can determine the reason for him becoming a hero, the “real” Whip, and my final review of the film.

In the movie “Flight”, the major character Denzel Washington presents a bad portrait of professionalism. He plays an airline flight captain addicted to money, sex, and alcohol. Whip decides to use cocaine to wake up after a night with little sleep to fly the next morning. That morning during the flight Whip meets intense turbulence. In fact, while at cruising altitude, Whip falls asleep leading the copilot to take over. Finally, a mechanical noise wakes him abruptly. Here is when we see the characteristic that appears to make Whip a hero. His confidence to land the plane during mechanical malfunction is very symbolic in terms of being seen as a hero.

The standout heroic moment in the film is when the plane travels at high speeds straight for the ground and Whip purposely turns’ the plane upside down causing them to fly inverted. Whip chose to do this to slow down the speed of plane and he then turns’ the plane back over as they approach the ground and landing the plane right side up. This decision saved many lives. Now his addiction to drugs is deliberately mentioned several times in the film, but merely referred to as his “medicine”. This can be seen as a contrast to the confident man we see as the hero figure who landed the plane under overwhelming and extreme conditions. He is rather a man that is addicted to drugs and alcohol. From this we can conclude that Denzel Washington’s character is not the average film hero we have come to know in movies, but he is more like a hero in disguise. This event leads us to determine the “real” whip underneath the disguise.

The major character in this film shows the everyday struggles of closeted drug and alcohol abuses in a professional setting. Using a true case of addiction, Richard Zemeckis displays how your life can change in any given moment as a result of your addiction. For Whip, that moment came the day he became a hero. The moment he became a hero in other people’s eyes he had to come to grips with his own reality and not that of which the outside world perceived him as. The reality of him being a drug addict in his eyes was both a positive and negative. He knew that the drugs helped him land the plane, but that it also highlights his addiction as a new light. This film highlighted the consequences of those hiding their drug addiction. In Whips case, this plane crash brought his problem full frontal. Although, he had done this is whole life, this event was his life changer. He chose to come clean as result of this event because the person he was perceived as and the person he actually was two different people. At the end he came clean to others and himself. The “real” Whip came forward causing the change of his life.

The film “Flight” directed by Richard Zemeckis uses an allegorical figure of evil to display the theme of addiction that is displayed in the film. This film is excellent from the beginning to the very end chiefly due to the great performances from the cast. Denzel Washington shines in this great film. John Goodman is marvelous as Whips closet friend and consequently his drug provider. The film is an underline study of addiction in the professional world. Whip could not have saved those people lives if he wasn’t under the influence in his mind. That is an addict way of thinking, which is why he made the decision he did at the end. Ultimately, when a person is at the crossroads between the illusions of life and the uncertainty of the future a real hero will make the right decision. I would recommend this film to others to see the effect of drug abuse. The film was a general surprise because beforehand I had no knowledge that the film would reflect addition. It met my expectations because it was a light intense eye opening film that keeps me intrigue throughout the whole film.

Inclusion, from the film we can see that it related directly to drug and alcohol addiction seen through the eyes of the addict. The film highlights both the positive and the negatives of being a drug addict. The film showcase what can happen as a result of someone living a life in disguise. The film met all expectations with delivering a solid and convincing message as it relates to drug addiction. After reviewing the movie, we can determine the reason behind the heroism in the film, the “real” person behind the mask of Denzel Washington character Whip, and the final impression the film made.

References

http://latimes.com/movies/2011/06/robert-zemeckis-flight-back-to-the-future-roger-rabbit.html