Date Night Movie Review - Flight

Atala - The trailer for this movie pointed a movie which seemed morally ambiguous. Should I, the viewer, be rooting for a character who was such a skilled pilot that he was able to save the majority of the passengers when the plane they were flying on suffered a serious malfunction? Or should I condemn him because it turned out that he had been drinking alcohol on the flight?

With these questions buzzing in my mind, we went to watch the movie. And I should say that the first thirty minutes or so were some of the most dramatic scenes that I have watched in a long while. All I can say is that if you have a fear of flying, you probably won't want to watch them. But after that drama was over, the movie settled into a slower pace, and the what the movie really was about - an alcoholic pilot in denial - came to the fore.

Denzel Washington, who played the lead role, did a great job here. I found myself alternately willing him to slay his addiction demons and mentally washing my hands off him as he relapsed again and again in the movie, especially as the consequences of continuing on his course of destruction would be pretty dire.

The ending of the movie builds towards the climactic scene where he is brought before a National Transportation Safety Board panel to explain what happened on the flight, and it was a fitting and emotional climax.

So I definitely recommend the movie, although I'll probably won't think the same way about flying in an airplane for a while.

Myne - We saw this movie just before my mum travelled back to Nigeria and I asked her if she wanted to see it with us. When she asked me what it was about, and then declined at the mention of plane crash, I realized I should have thought of that. So if you are scared of flying, or prefer not to save scary scenarios in your mind, you may want to keep away from this movie.

Otherwise, flight is a movie about redemption, or not, for those caught in the chains of substance abuse. Those who have gone through therapy may recognise the steps the main character had to go through to get to where he was by the end of the movie. The movie definitely makes you think - of stubborness, of human genius and fallibility, and of moral high grounds. It made me think of some personality traits I may have, and how these affects my relationships with others.

Now to the performances. I won't be surprised if Denzel Washington is nominated or wins an Oscar for best actor. He was like a bright falling star, you couldn't keep your eyes off him. He was in almost all the scenes in the movie, and in each, he steals the show. The writing of the movie was not bad, but he made the writers shine even more.

The other stand out actors were John Goodman and Don Cheadle. They were opposites of each other and where they both appeared together, the comparison was hilarious if not for the seriousness of the movie. Without doubt, they were both great foils for Denzel's character and it showed that they gave it their all.

I also highly recommend this movie but for adults. There is nudity and substance abuse.