Flight

By Harry McPhaul

Flight was the first film I’ve seen in a while that relied heavily on one person.  It was still a pretty good movie.  It was the story of a pilot (Denzel Washington) and his struggles with alcohol and cocaine.   Throughout the film I found myself viewing him as if he was part of my family.  There were periods when he would go a few days without drinking and I thought he had finally let go but then he would eventually relapse. 

He was teetering on the brink sobriety and alcoholism during several scenes in the film.  His life would be beginning to get better and then one little event would cause him to drink again.  It would already be hard for someone to quit drinking with a support group but to try and do it by himself was almost impossible.  I had a feeling that he would never be able truly release from drinking because of what it meant to him.

Before his drinking became a problem he would drink just for fun until his wife and his son left him.  This caused him to drink just to drink.  It was a way for him to forget and hope his problems would just solve themselves.  He also was not surrounding himself with supporting to people. John Goodman’s character was one that provided a little comic relief although he was not helping the cause.

Harling Mays (John Goodman) was the man who supplied Whip Whittaker (Denzel Washington) with his drugs.  Even when Whittaker was in the hospital after the plane crash Mays walked right in slipped him a little bottle of vodka.  This was the way their relationship worked.  If Whittaker was unable to buy alcohol or cocaine, Mays always found a way to get it to him.

Eventually towards the end of the film Whittaker had to go on trial for his role in the plane crash.  He had stayed up the night before drinking and woke up with a hangover.  The next morning when Whittaker is speaking in front of a council who will make the final decision whether or not he caused the crash. He had finally reached his breaking point and confessed to his drinking and cocaine addiction.  This was the best scene in the whole film. 

I could see that he had finally had enough.  I was glad to see that Denzel got nominated for an Oscar.  If the overall film was better than he would have gotten some more attention but I still do not think he would have beaten out Daniel Day-Lewis for best actor.  I highly recommend this film.  I would give a 8.5/10. Happy St. Patrick's Day!