Review
Washington takes ‘Flight’ as drunk pilot
November 15, 2012
“Flight” was a unique movie about an alcoholic pilot, named Whip Whitaker who is played by Denzel Washington.
Whip was flying a plane when the equipment malfunctioned and the plane crashed. The conditions of the crash were so intense that they should have killed everyone on board. However, the pilot maneuvered the plane so that the crash was less severe and several lives were saved.
He was regarded as a hero by the media, until officials found out that he was consuming alcohol while flying. Whip is on trial for the deaths of the passengers. Even though Whip’s alcohol consumption did not cause the crash, the trial changes his whole perspective on life.
I was immediately drawn into “Flight” within the first few minutes. The scenes that were created in this movie were excellent. The plane crash at the beginning of the movie was what drew me into the film.
The pilot seemed eerily calm during the scene, which added to the intensity of the scene. Parts of the plane were falling off and the nose of the plane was taking a dive, yet he kept his composure. People were even flying around in the cabin because the plane became inverted.
Another powerful scene was one where Whip met a cancer victim and drug addict in the hospital. The cancer victim makes both addicts realize that they have a life choice to make. They can choose to regain their lives if they only quit the drugs and alcohol; the cancer patient does not have the same luxury. I thought that this perspective of life was interesting.
While this movie had a great plot, I did not like the way it ended. Whip was forced to make a decision at the end of the movie. The decision he made did not seem logical to me. While he made the morally right decision, it did not seem like a realistic decision that he would make.
The ending of the movie also seemed out of place with the rest of the film. It seemed like the movie ended the movie the way it did because there was no better way to wrap up the movie.
Nicole Hovatter is a student at UW-River Falls.