I’ve been looking forward to Flight since I first saw the trailer months ago. The plot immediately hooked me: “What if Captain Sully was drunk when he landed that plane?” Because, let’s be real: the inspiration for Flight clearly came from Captain Sully’s infamous and heroic 2009 landing of an American Airlines plane in the Hudson River. From the folksy name, “Whip Whitaker” to the eerily matter-of-fact black box recording, Whitaker is an alternate version of Sullenberger. However, while Sullenberger proved to be squeaky clean and was able to weather the media storm while remaining a hero, Whitaker does not. This is a compelling story and as a whole, Flight works. However, I couldn’t help but imagine how amazing it would be in someone else’s hands.

As Ivey mentioned in his review of Flight, the film turns out to be a study in addiction. Denzel Washington gives one of the best performances of his career, further cementing his status as one of those rare actors about whom that statement can be sincerely made after nearly all of his films. The audience hates Whip, then they love him. Sympathy, revulsion, pity; Washington expertly leads us down all of these paths. He’s also bolstered by an incredible supporting cast that includes such heavy-hitters as Don Cheadle, John Goodman, Melissa Leo, and relative newcomer (at least to American audiences), Kelly Reilly. Killer story, fantastic acting, and tension that was positively palpable at times. Flight has all of the ingredients for an amazing movie, but I spent so much of it rolling my eyes so hard I thought they were going to pop out of my skull.

Zemeckis quickly pushes us right off that cliff with a scene of Nicole doing heroin that is only slightly less ridiculous than Jessie Spano’s bout with pills on Saved By the Bell.The scene not only features photos of her cancer mom, and camera work that goes, “Cancer mom. Needle. Cancer mom. Vein. Cancer mom,” but is actually set to “Under the Bridge,” the Red Hot Chili Peppers song that is literally about doing heroin.

Dear God, WE GET IT.

It was at about this point that I started wondering what Flight would look like if someone like Ryan Fleck, who co-wrote and directed Half Nelson, were in charge.

Half Nelson is spare and quiet; the opposite of the lush, larger-than-life Flight. Where Denzel Washington’s most powerful moments are all but drowned out by music cues (This one means that he is redeeming himself!!!!), Ryan Gosling faced no such fight in Half Nelson. The film is quiet and the camera stays on him in such an intimate way that the audience feels as though they are struggling with him. They can feel the hope; the lies; and ultimately the disappointment. With Flight, I just felt like I had to fight through everything to get to what mattered.

Zemeckis hasn’t done a live-action movie since 2000’s Cast Away. Since then, he’s been focusing on dead-eyed cartoons like Polar Express, so it makes sense that he’s forgotten what to do with living, breathing, flesh-and-bones actors. A heart-warming animated tale about a child rediscovering the joys of Christmas demands a different touch. Unfortunately, the feel is ultimately the same. When you have Denzel Washington, your job should be easy. You set up the camera and you walk away. When you return, there will be magic. Instead, Flight proves that bigger does not always equal better. Maybe one day, someone can come along and remake it with a more gentle touch.

[easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B000NHQZ1S” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JmUDOnAhL._SL160_.jpg” width=”107″] [easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B000WQWPJQ” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51tUf2qsdQL._SL160_.jpg” width=”120″]

If you’ve seen the commercials and trailers for Denzel Washington’s new movie Flight, you probably think you’ve got a pretty good idea what it’s about. Denzel plays a badass pilot, who saves the day by flying a passenger aircraft in ways it was never intended to (spoiler: upside down). There is a question about whether or not he’s at fault, and because we learn that he’s a crazy bastard who’d roll a plane with 102 people on board, it’s not that much of a stretch to think he’s a bit out there.

I asked a fellow Clacker to describe what he thought the film was about having only seen the trailer and television spots. Michael’s response: “It’s about the skewering of a pilot who doesn’t deserve to be skewered.”

But you, see, all of that is not what Flight is about. Sure, the things that you see in the trailer happen, but the film’s marketing barely even hints at the real story. How much misdirection? One of the flick’s most central characters is nearly completely absent from any of the marketing.

It’s very clear in the first five minutes that the impression we all got from the marketing might not be entirely accurate. We also see how the film garnered it’s R-rating in that same time period. We find Washington’s Whip Whitaker in a hotel bedroom littered with liquor and beer bottles with a very attractive – and very naked – member of the flight crew finishing off a joint before Whitaker finishes off a line of coke … all two hours before his next flight is scheduled to take off. To my friend Michael’s point: there is never any doubt that Whitaker was in the wrong getting into that cockpit.

Also never in doubt was the idea that his actions when the plane failed were heroic, but again, that’s not what Flight is about. In actuality, the film is about addiction and the series of compounding lies that addicts tell to keep their problem private. In some ways, Flight is commercial for programs like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous (Note: that’s not a slight on those two groups that do incredible work).

The central character you’ve never heard of is Nicole — played superbly by Kelly Reilly — a fellow addict Whitaker meets in the hospital after the crash. Her introduction feels almost like an interruption originally, because it doesn’t seem like part of the story we were trying to watch. Interspersed with Whitaker’s morning and the events leading up to the crash, we follow Nicole as she seeks out and finds a high that puts her into the hospital for her fated meeting. She’s a character that audiences will instantly root for, hoping that her journey will somehow inspire Whitaker along a similar course. But addicts in denial will always be addicts, and Nicole departs our story almost as suddenly as she is thrust into it. Despite seeming so important throughout the film, she plays little to no role in the resolution.

The one thing Nicole refused to be was his enabler; but Whitaker was surrounded by enough of those. From his lawyer (Don Cheadle) to his union rep / “old friend” (Bruce Greenwood) to his dealer (the always hilarious John Goodman), none of the people close to him hold him accountable. There’s a family he doesn’t really have anymore, but they play such a little role in the story – until it’s time to make a cruel unnecessary point – that they’re not really relevant.

Denzel Washington’s performance is solid, and I’m sure people who are personally closer to the challenges of addiction will have enjoyed the movie a great deal more than I have. I was looking for something else; not necessarily a different story, but a more complete one. When Whitaker is at the film’s climax, left to tell the final lie that will protect his name, the biggest influence on the outcome has little-to-nothing to do with the previous hour and a half of the flick. I wanted to like Flight, but 1.5 great performances isn’t enough to keep me interested in a slow, plodding story that doesn’t differentiate itself from every other movie about addiction that we’ve seen before.

[easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B0088TG252″ locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51QkopDzEYL._SL160_.jpg” width=”120″] [easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B003KRJNBW” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51J-01hh5qL._SL160_.jpg” width=”113″] [easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B001AIY53Y” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/516UD4O314L._SL160_.jpg” width=”113″]

[easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B0027WGWQ0″ locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ZKZtTGapL._SL160_.jpg” width=”120″] [easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B00049QQHI” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/519M1T1YWQL._SL160_.jpg” width=”110″]

We know you all love some Denzel Washington goodness, and we are going to help you get a sneak peek at his latest movie, Flight. The film tells the story of a pilot who heroically lands a plane that is about to crash, saving the lives of all the passengers and crew on board. But is he really a hero? Did he actually cause the accident by having too much alcohol in his system? You’ll just have to see the movie to find out the truth!

CliqueClack has partnered with Paramount Pictures and Allied Integrated Marketing to offer our readers free passes to two advance screenings of the film in Baltimore and Norfolk. The screenings are both on November 1st at 7:30 PM. The Baltimore screening will take place at the AMC White Marsh theaters. The Norfolk screening will take place st the AMC Lynnhaven.  All you need to do is send an email to flight@cliqueclack.com with FLIGHT BALTIMORE or FLIGHT NORFOLK as the subject (and if you’re outside of those areas but want to make the trip, feel free to send us an email too). We will send you instructions and a special code from GoFoBo.com which will allow you to download and print two admit one passes. Passes are limited and do not guarantee a seat, so get yours now before they are all gone!

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziLSADFCyjE