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Film review: Flight

MANILA, Philippines - Ever thought how troubling drunk driving can get? That is what the Denzel Washington movie Flight allows filmgoers to realize as the actor’s pilot character Whip Whitaker finds himself in hot water as he is suspected of flying an airplane intoxicated. 

Yes, it’s not even a car. But a passenger plane carrying 102 souls. 

What’s more perplexing is the scenario that he is actually perceived as a hero who saved numerous lives after crash-landing his apparently malfunctioning plane into an open field. His instinctively intuitive maneuvering significantly avoided the worst possible outcome for a plane crash — no survivor. 

However, since Whitaker is thought to have consumed considerable amount of liquor days before and during the fateful flight, his heroic act is quickly overshadowed. The focus becomes whether he is or is not responsible for the relatively few crash casualties.

Solar-UIP held a special press screening of the Robert Zemeckis-directed action drama recently at the Solar Century Tower in Salcedo Village, Makati City.

Flight tells the tale of drunkard airline captain Whitaker who, after a night of heavy drinking, drug-taking and tryst with one of his stewardesses, flies SouthJet flight 227 bound for Atlanta. While on air, he initially frees the plane from some turbulence, earning him applause from the passengers. 

Curiously, during a light moment, he secretly drinks orange juice mixed with vodka, sleeps for a while, as his co-pilot Ken Evans (Brian Geraghty) takes the control. The moment he wakes up, he discovers that the aircraft is “going into a steep dive” so he pulls off some novelty act for the plunge. Then he loses consciousness and wakes up in a hospital with just one eye since the other has bandage resulting from impact injury. One eye is enough to let go his tear — a testament to the actor’s acting prowess that earned him an Oscar nomination. 

The movie is a cautionary tale for people dealing with irresponsible drinking. What can easily be a moment of heroism for Whip spirals into controversy when authorities learn through his blood test sample that he is intoxicated while on the job and that he may be culpable for the deaths of the few on board. Someone has to be blamed, and no thanks to alcohol, the hero becomes the villain. 

Denzel as Captain Whitaker is effective as his claim that he’s the only one capable of flying that “broken plane” the way he does which includes turning it upside down for a good purpose. He’s simply fit for the role as a convincingly skilled professional “who chooses to drink” even if that has already taken a toll on his marriage. That scene when he visits his estranged family and embraces his son, who naturally does not acknowledge him, strongly sends the message that he is by nature a good man. Viewers may hate the drinking problem, but not the fallen hero behind it. 

Flight, which opens nationwide on Feb. 13, also stars Don Cheadle as lawyer Hugh Lang who does whatever it takes to save Whip from possible imprisonment; John Goodman as a happy-go-lucky bad influence-buddy who has all the paraphernalia to keep him “normal”; and Melissa Leo as head of the investigating group tasked to unearth the truth related to the crash.