'FLIGHT'

'FLIGHT' (R) (4 STARS)(Highest Rating)

Written by John Gatins
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Actors: Denzel Washington, Kelly Reilly, Don Cheadle, John Goodman, Bruce Greenwood, Bruce Geraghty, Nadine Velazquez.

Denzel Washington is one of our finest actors and lately he has given us dependable, star performances in a lot of slick, Hollywood projects. We forget that he is one of the best actors that has ever graced a movie screen. It has been awhile since Denzel could show off his acting chops. Some say it was way back with "Training Day" with his blistering performance as a dirty cop. I agree somewhat but that was more histrionics and shouting. With "Flight" Denzel has given one of his very best performances as an airline pilot in Robert Zemeckis's "Flight" which is a very well written movie that packs an emotional punch.

The performance by Denzel and the movie are a throwback to the golden movie age where a movie was a showcase for a major movie star. The movie "Flight" is also a throwback to those star vehicles where a major actor played an alcoholic or drug addict. It is a role that is ready for scene chewing but Washington gives a subtly emotional, graceful and powerful performance. He holds back when he needs to and beautifully brings out the emotion of the role when he has to in a tender way. It is truly one of the best performances I have seen on screen and it gets better the more I think of it.

The movie also has stayed with me and haunted me hours after I have seen it. Except for too much overdone religious overtones it is a perfectly written potboiler that gets stronger as it builds with a scene near the end that came out of nowhere and made me cry. "Flight" also is a welcome return to serious film making by Robert Zemeckis. Zemeckis was an icon and on such a roll with great classics like "Used Cars", "Back to the Future" and "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" He lost his way recently with stop motion animation blunders like "A Christmas Carol" and "Polar Express". He gets back on track with serious film making like his Tom Hanks vehicle "Castaway" which I kind of liked.

"Flight" tells the story of airline pilot Whip, played by Washington, who lands a plane in an open field after the plane malfunctions. He saves the plane by several maneuvers before it crashes and saves the lives of many only losing four passengers and two flight crew members. He is seen as a hero because his expert landing of the plane kept it from being a major catastrophe. Before we see this realistic and frightening plane crash landing we witness Whip waking up with a flight attendant in a hotel room. Whip had consumed a lot of alcohol the night before and we see him finishing a beer and then taking cocaine to right himself. When the landing is investigated there is a concern that Whip's alcohol consumption could affect the investigation and send him to prison for the deaths of the four passengers.

There will be a lawyer appointed to get Whip off on these charges stressing that the plane almost crashed because it was a broken plane with major malfunctions and it wasn't because of Whip's alcohol consumption. Though the movie is not just focused on the investigation, the movie is really about alcohol addiction. It is about Whip and how his life is full of lies including the biggest lie, that he does not have an alcohol problem and he can stop anytime. "Flight" is really compatible to two of the best movies ever made about alcohol addiction and is almost equal to them. Those two movies are "Days of Wine and Roses" with Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick from 1962 and arguably the best, "Clean and Sober" with Michael Keaton from 1988. Washington's performance is equal to Keaton who gave the best performance ever on screen of an addict up to now.

As the movie progresses we get emotionally involved with Whip's addiction and we want him to stop lying to himself. He at first seems arrogant and hard to like but we see later that he is just a flawed human being that needs to discover that his life is getting out of control. There will be another person who will walk into Whip's life and she is Nicole, played tenderly and beautifully by Kelly Reilly, who is also an addict. That part of the movie surprised me and it is very well handled. There will also be a lot of powerful moments between Whip and his son and another flight crew member. There is also a moment near the end during the flight hearing concerning a crew member that Whip was involved with. That moment ties everything up in this movie in a powerful, emotional scene that choked me up.

When "Flight" is over everything does come together and the movie gives us a solid portrait of an alcoholic. You also have a perfectly delivered, emotional and graceful performance by Denzel. Also fine are Don Cheadle as Whip's lawyer, Bruce Greenwood as a colleague and friend and great comic relief by John Goodman as Whip's friend and drug dealer. Kelly Reilly as Nicole also gives a wonderful and beautiful performance. There is a lot of emotion in "Flight" and it is always an engrossing drama that will keep you on the edge of your seat. I didn't expect such an emotional depth from this movie but it is one of the most honest depictions of addiction I have ever seen on screen. "Flight" is one of the best movies of 2012!

P.S. As I mentioned, "Flight" is one of the very best movies about addiction I have ever seen. My favorite movie is "Clean and Sober" and favorite performance of an addict ever is by Michael Keaton. "Flight" is a great movie to go out to and then when you get home the next night get "Clean and Sober" on netflix.

My favorite line from "Clean and Sober" applies to "Flight" and it is the truest and most beautiful statement that was ever spoken about helping an addict.

"A person that thinks they can help an addict overcome their addiction who doesn't want their help has to realize how crazy that logic is."