Several years ago, Captain Chesley Burnett “Sully” Sullenberger, III became a national hero by miraculously landing a plane full of passengers on the Hudson River. This incident became known as the “Miracle on the Hudson.” Several years later there is now a Hollywood version of this story from a pedigree of A listers – Denzel Washington being directed by the great Robert Zemeckis. It has all the makings of an automatic great film. What the heck happened?
First question is, why does the black Captain Sullenberger have to be a drunk? Why can’t this story be an uplifting one? There are so many different angles this could have taken instead we are forced to spend two hours with a character Whip Whitaker (Denzel Washington) that doesn’t have any redeeming qualities.
Almost every female character in this movie is treated pretty horribly. The opening 5 – 10 minutes features a gratuitous shot of a woman walking around an apartment Nude (after just having sex with Whip). Then we are introduced to Nicole (Kelly Reilly) a messed up drug addict who seems to have no point. Then there’s an unnamed Flight Attendant who, for no reason, is walking around when the plane is going down. The only positive female characters are the head FAA Investigator and the god fearing veteran head Flight Attendant.
One reason movies about alcoholism doesn’t work is the central character are usually people you don’t want to spend 10 minutes with that alone two hours and the story never ends well. It reminds me of the Afroman Song, “Because I Got High.” Every illogical thing that screenwriter John Gatins had in the script can be chalked up to “Because I Got High.”
Whip is the only one who could have possibly landed that plane the way he did, “Because He Got High.” One of the flight attendants was randomly walking around the plane after everyone was already strapped in, “Because She Was High?” The FAA wanted to crucify a man after they proved his innocence, why? “Because He Was High.” John Goodman as Whip’s pusher added a bit of comedy to this otherwise dour movie, but why was he there? “Because He Got High.” There was one out of the blue moment where Whip visits his ex-wife, yep you guessed it, “Because He Was High.” Nicole moved in with Whip a man she didn’t know “Because She Used to be High.”
All of the performances in this movie were top notch. Denzel and Reilly both do a great job with what they are given. But really, how hard is it to play an unlikable drunk? Don Cheadle doesn’t do much as Whip’s exasperated union attorney.
Flight would have been a better movie if the entire thing wasn’t so one note. The crash sequence in the beginning and the set-up are great. But it seemed like the entire budget of the movie was blown on that big scale set piece. After this the movie spends a lot of time with just Denzel in a Hospital and in small enclosed room.
This is a man who just saved over 100 people in a miracle landing, it would have been nice if the movie focused on that aspect of his celebrity and not so much on him being drunk and alone. The movie almost never drags, but it still felt like a chore to sit through.
Final Grade D
This reviewer is a moron and spiritually dead, not mention knowing anything about alcoholism and the dark journey the alky must take if he is to overcome it.
Idiotic review. Whip is likable, which is why I was in the edge of my seat hoping he would get sober. The media was trying to focus on his celebrity, but Whip wouldn’t come out of hiding. Lastly, you ask, “how hard is it to play an unlikable drunk?” Are you an actor or a film critic? Your review was a chore to sit through. Flight Final Grade B+ Your review Final Grade F
How are the females treated horribly, because there’s nudity? The drug addict redeems herself and is the bright spot of the movie, and the federal investigator is the sharpest character in the movie. If anything, the male characters are weak: the redneck landlord comes to mind and John Goodman plays a clown.
Awful review, but I didn’t have any expectations for a good one as soon as I read the nonsensical question about Sullenberger being black. This movie isn’t about the Hudson miracle, it’s a gripping story about a pilot who crash land’s a plane and later has to face his demons. Oh, and he happens to be black. Somebody alert Chris Matthews!
Did this person even watch the movie? So many typos. The woman was walking around the plane because the luggage door opened and people were getting hit with luggage. And in the beginning, they were in a hotel, not an apartment. Michelle, you’re an idiot and it amazes me that you get paid to do reviews.
I think the reviewer might have been drunk when she wrote it. Someone take away her critic’s license. She most own this magazine because her review is completely ametur!
Review is idiotic. Mr. Washington could have turned it down. Their are plenty of white actors that would take it providing same talent. Or maybe she would have then given it a better review, making reviewer a hypocritical racist moron.
She may have given the movie a D, but I give her review an F. I disagree with just about everything, from the loose comparison to Sullenberger, which I don’t think the writers used as the basis of the movie, to the theory that Denzel was casted in part because he was black, rather than a superstar actor, and finally with the ridiculous comparison to an Afroman song.
Um Michelle? Guess what? A sober person COULDN’T have landed the plane.
The movie was loosely based on the story of Captain Robert Piche’, not Captain Chesley Sullenberger.
What a juvenile review. Is it Amateur Week at Eclipse Magazine? How could a review so incompetent receive the editor’s approval? This review lacks any depth about the deeper issues involved in the film, instead pandering to the action and special effects. This film wasn’t meant to be a thriller, but a human drama about a complex character living in the grey.