Flight

I'm glad I caught up on this one. The combination of Robert Zemeckis and Denzel Washington sounded good and it worked. The opening 30 minutes with the plane crash is a decently intense beast and I liked the aftermath, the investigation and the subsequent trial where the protagonist is tried for alcohol and drugs. I had fun and Denzel was excellent as always. 75% (05/12/2024)

The course of the flight: the first third full of kerosene fumes of audiovisual brilliance, humor as black as a box and the promises of "character" drama. Then the flaps get stuck and the descent begins: slow dialogues, underdeveloped characters, a faint "investigative" drama that is displaced by the image of a decomposing protagonist letting the viewer in - even though Denzel is first-class swollen and he is a loser, it's not something that will invest you in the story. Instead, we get into subtle turbulences of predictability. However, the unraveling is not in vain, it has an edge and a charge... which the film then sticks into the ground with a lemonade conclusion, which actually breaks the whole effort to remove the hero aspect and the moral ambiguity of the story. Every sermon needs at least one improved sinner, something Švejk already knew, but when someone starts screaming at the altar, it is not yet a sign of God's enlightenment. Rather first-class amateurs, in this case a showy sniff at the audience, who like exemplary "self-criticism". From my point of view, it blunts all the blades that Flight 93 manages to hold on to. Nevertheless, it’s a sympathetic film which, thanks to a few juicy moments for me (apart from the first forty minutes or so, for example, the character of John Goodman and Zemeckis' still elegant direction) stays in the safe flight level between three and four stars. (02/11/2013)

The first half-hour of Flight is a perfect lesson on how an elite pilot should behave in a crisis situation – knock down a pint of vodka with juice, turn a plummeting plane upside down, and land it in a field full of religious people. Zemeckis handles this little excursion into the disaster genre so masterfully that even James Cameron should applaud him from the deck of the Titanic. The rest of the film, however, is a rather painful confession of a broken alcoholic, which is not as dynamic as the spectacular opening, but it maintains an admirable emotional level, mainly thanks to Washington's first-class performance and the very naturalistic direction. Sometimes it hurts to look the truth in the eye, but this is the kind of film worth enduring that pain for. 80% (09/02/2013)

It was impossible not to know about this movie before its premiere. You see, I found the premise really appealing anytime I thought about it. I mean who wouldn’t like to see an airplane pilot save most of the passengers and crew with an absolutely incredible maneuver, all this while drunk and as high as a kite? The scene of the plane crash is so brutal that I could barely breathe in the first thirty minutes of the movie. Then the movie moves on to the investigation and at that point I sort of thought that the film would slow down somewhat. It did, but surprisingly, it didn’t get boring. For a movie that takes two hours and fifteen minutes, I must say ‘good job!’. On top of that, Denzel delivers a very good performance. I haven’t seen a person dissected so naturally in a movie for a long time. Absurdity mixes with reality, but the result and the final scene were definitely worth it. (02/21/2014)

I have to say that I approached this film like a blind person to a violin. I hadn't read anything about it, I was only interested in the cast, the fact that it was nominated in several categories at the Oscars, and of course, the presence of Denzel Washington in the lead role. But what caught my attention even more was the director's name - Robert Zemeckis. Lately, I associate him mainly with visually demanding films, where animation is highly emphasized. After all, his last three films ("The Polar Express", "Beowulf", and "A Christmas Carol") were all 3D animations. However, I somehow forgot that this director also has films like "Forrest Gump" or "Cast Away" under his belt, where visual effects were limited or went unnoticed. He had a talent for strong storytelling, and as it turned out, he still has it when he departs from motion capture. The movie "Flight" is about a plane flight, that's what I expected, but what I didn't expect is the fact that this is a film about addictions. Addiction to drugs, but mainly to alcohol. How thin the line is between heroism and complete rejection. It takes very little - one or two glasses at the wrong time, and then a large quantity of others. Zemeckis, which is his strong suit, managed to perfectly depict the problematic flight that the film tells about. You will feel dizzy, you will feel sick from what is happening. You will realize that you are truly in a great coffin that, when it crashes, you are usually screwed. I am decent. Truly a great phase of the film, which must be highlighted. The rest is held together mainly by Washington's great acting. This person truly grew into a great actor. If the film didn't unnecessarily focus on religious babble, it would be more tolerable for me. Likewise, if it paid more attention to the supporting characters, who are truly secondary in this case, but the overall result is good. "Lincoln" had Daniel Day-Lewis, who was perfect, but "Flight" has not only a great actor (Denzel, but this time he won't reach the statue), but also a story and execution that are worth seeing. It works much better as a whole. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2013/01/divosi-10-years-divoka-stvoreni-lets.html (03/05/2013)