MOVIE WEEKEND: FLIGHT

Gentle Readers . . . and Maxwell,

Today I present for your consideration a pretty intense film called Flight, starring Denzel Washington and released recently on DVD.

Flight (2012, Rated R) takes off on a wild ride when Captain Whip Whitaker (Washington, who received a Best Actor Academy Award nomination for this film) flies a passenger plane departing from Orlando that's supposed to land in Atlanta. He starts by frightening his co-pilot half to death with tricky maneuvers as he makes his way through heavy turbulence. When they reach sunny skies, Whitaker turns over the controls to the co-pilot and takes a nap.

But as they approach Atlanta and Whitaker awakes, the plane starts to fall apart. Using his amazing skill, Whitaker manages to get the plane on the ground, saving the lives of most of the passengers. But here's the problem: Whitaker is drunk and coked out.

Flight is no longer an action movie after the landing. It becomes, instead, a study of an alcoholic who announces repeatedly that he CHOOSES to drink, in spite of the consequences. So, what will happen when Whitaker is under oath before The National Transportation and Safety Board inquiry into the crash?

Washington definitely deserved his Oscar nomination. I still think Daniel Day-Lewis will take home the award for Lincoln, but Denzel Washington is excellent in this movie. He makes us care about a character who is, by turns, kind and brave, and a real jerk.

The supporting cast is good, but they're pretty much in the background. This is definitely Denzel Washington's movie. Don Cheadle plays Whitaker's lawyer. Cheadle is a very good actor, but he takes a back seat to Washington here. John Goodman did stand out to me, though, in his fairly brief role as Captain Whitaker's creepy "friend" and dealer.

This movie most definitely is not for children, and if you're sensitive, the landing of the plane might be more than you can take. The film also has brief nude scenes, the portrayal of drug use, and quite a bit of profanity.

Dee, I don't think you would like this movie. Rita, I'm not sure about you.

I liked Flight although the flight had me gasping in horror and I was appalled by Captain Whitaker's behavior. It's just that when Denzel Washington is good (and I'm not sure he's ever not good), he's so good that I don't want to take my eyes off him.

I was also pleased with the conclusion of the movie; therefore, I give Flight The Janie Junebug Highest Seal of Approval.

Thank you again for wishing me well. As I continue to recover from the flu, I've been hit by "spring" allergies. It's so warm here in northern Florida that everything is blooming. We need more cold weather before winter is gone, but I don't know if we'll get it. Oh, how I dread the heat of summer and the whine of mosquitoes.

My poor collie mix Harper doesn't know what his fur should do. He grew a winter coat during December and started losing it in January. His fur is still coming out in tufts.

Infinities of love,

Janie Junebug