Flight

Robert Zemeckis is a great director. He's made such great films as the Back to the Future trilogy, Forrest Gump, and Cast Away. So the fact that his past three movies were mediocre to terrible motion capture animations just baffled me. Why would someone who has made such great movies want to make crap? The technology was great, yes. But it was not necessary to make three entire films that way, in my mind. One was enough.

And Beowulf's sound design was terrible. But, Mr. Zemeckis has emerged from the darkness.

In his first live-action film since 2000s Cast Away starring Tom Hanks, Robert Zemeckis explores the world of addiction to the extreme. Flight tells the story of a Commercial Airline pilot by the name of Whip Whitaker, played by Denzel Washington, who is under National scrutiny for having alcohol in his system during a plane crash in which 6 people died on board.

The trailer makes the pilot look much more innocent than he actually is. In the opening scene, not only is Mr. Washington partaking in adult beverages, but he also snorts a line of cocaine. And if that wasn't bad enough, while piloting the aircraft, he makes a mixed beverage of Orange Juice and Vodka. As I said, this film explores addiction to the extreme.

This film is up to par with the rest of Zemeckis' works. It is a great "comeback" that is filled with suspense and comedic relief as well as some truly touching moments. However, for the majority of the movie, I found it extremely hard to feel sympathy for Whip Whitaker. The majority of the time, he is selfish, obnoxious, stubborn and of course, drunk. But that is the point of the movie. You can love anyone's outer personality, but what you really have to get to to get to know a person is get to their inner, darker personality. And that is what will make you love or hate a person. But some people will surprise you even after you think you know them.

My Grade: B+