Flight

Romantic comedies :: single women as flight :: alcoholics

We go through the same thing over and over and over and over again.  At times you feel disengaged because it's just so much to consistently take.  How can one person be this self-destructive?  Bravo Mr. Zemeckis for not only bringing us into this dark, uncomfortable world, but for keeping us there for so long.  However, I feel a bit cheated (as I do with RomComs) with the ending.  For a movie that is so strong in many ways, the ending is just total crap.  There's no way that would happen. Ever.  So for the ending alone, I have to say the mark was missed.  Big time.

From the opening scene we witness a totally functioning Whip Whitaker (Denzel Washington).  The aviators help perpetuate this illusion.  We have a grown man with big responsibilities.  It's clear his demons are just as big.  But he has become incredibly good at hiding and, if called out, dismissing said demons.  The whole movie is just this build to "will he or won't he".  We observe the limits to which every relationship he has is pushed.  It's not comfortable.  But that's the point.  How many people wanted to shut this movie off?  Disregard it as too long (this was my initial gripe)?  It's because it's deeply true in the emotions it portrays and evokes from the audience.  Denzel does an amazing job keeping us in Whip's cheering section throughout the tumultuous trip.

Don Cheadle is great as the lawyer who just wants to get his client off.  He's there to clean up the problem-with no regard for the actual problem maker.  He admits to not caring, buries evidence that hurts their case and basically acts as an indirect enabler.    John Goodman plays a fantastic direct enabler.  In the final scenes when Whip calls for Harling (Goodman) you know it's going to be good.  And he delivers.  I do think it's a bit overreaching though that people are saying he should be nominated for a best supporting Oscar.  Kelly Reilly plays a perfectly dysfunctional love interest although her back story scenes and weird Crash-esque introduction to the main story felt forced.

Flight does a great job of showing us the dark depths of addiction and just how seemingly incapable some people are of turning around once that far down the rabbit hole.  I think it also shows us that every choice matters.  This small step may seem like a slight divergence from the path, but we know once the flood gates have been opened, it's much more difficult to close and return to the path.  As simple as this lesson is, and as many times as we've been told, Flight reinforces that it really is our choice alone and we will live with the repercussions forever.  However big or small that step may be.