It's a character drama more than anything, and an incredibly preachy one at that. It's also far too on-the-nose for my tastes; everything - from the musical choices to the cast of supporting caricatures - is so bloody obvious and over-the-top, and designed to make us think one (and only one) thing about our flawed hero. It's as if Zemeckis has never heard of subtlety or ambiguity (though, based on his recent mo-cap experiments, perhaps that's true). Denzel is Denzel, of course, and, like Argo, it needs more John Goodman, but there's really nothing here that stands out or feels great. It's all simply sub-par, warmed-over, Oscar baiting Hollywood tripe, and I really didn't like it. But there is a super hot, fully naked chick in the opening scene of the movie, so I suppose it gets points for that.

You'd probably just find her ugly anyway.

FLIGHT

Well, caught it tonight and it was a full screening. The first 30 minutes are great for those with a fear of flying or just to experience a well done airplane crash scenario. That was well executed. Then the film dips into an almost endless barrage of the effects of alcoholism on an individual. He gets off. He gets on. He gets off and on. In and out of relationships friendships until we get to the final end. The hearing on the crash itself where it then turns into a lifetime movie ending. I did appreciate the acting by Denzel displaying the downward spiral he was going through but even while being a hero for saving those lives he was one of the most unlikeable heroes at the same time. It really grew just disgusting watching that character with a drink in every other scene and then the deal that happens before his testimony stank for me. Overall though I did think it's a decent film but one I would only watch for the airplance sequence if I ever caught it on tv in the future.

Grade - B

do you guys really have THAT hard of a time seeing naked women in real life?

or.. you know, on the internet any time you want? I don't see how it occurring in a movie is that noteworthy.

A naked woman occurring in a Robert Zemeckis/Denzel Washington movie is noteworthy, especially when the woman is super hot and the camera seems content to linger on her for as long as possible.

And there's lots of naked men on the internet as well, but that doesn't stop you from saying stuff like:

This is 90 percent of a great film. The entire cast is fantastic. Denzel Washington and Kelly Reilly both deserve Oscar nominations. The crash sequence is convincing and disturbing and intense. The depiction of substance abuse is, for the most part, stern, yet fair, and the film does not shy away from complicated questions, including whether or not our flawed hero could have performed such a radical aerial stunt sober. If only it knew how to end: in the last 10 or so minutes, the electric blend of action, conversation, romance, suspense, torment, and Rolling Stones songs gives way to a neat moral choice which feels a tad unearned and, worse still, bland, out-of-character Alcoholics Anonymous sermonizing. A shame, but the film on the whole is still a compelling and sound achievement.

B+

And what's sure to be the most overrated film of the year is...

Denzel Washington's performance is anything but overrated (Oscar caliber), but if you can't predict every step this film is going to take, then I'd have to guess you've never seen a movie before.

Besides Washington, the real highlight of the film is the airplane crash. If there's anything Zemeckis proved in Cast Away its that he knows how to crash planes fantastically. The crash here is a heart stopper. No bs, but I even caught myself breathless at one point. It's that good.

The rest of the film? Meh. Zemeckis could do this in his sleep. It's good, but all these reviews claiming its the best film of the year or how extraordinary it is, well I'd either like what they're smoking, or I would've like to have seen the film that they saw.

*** (B)

Oh, the girl at the beginning is Nadine Velasquez (I think) from My Name is Earl. Watching that show for a couple of seasons finally paid off.

Argo.

That might be second. It at least has flair to it.

Robert Zemeckis makes a solid return to live action with Flight, highlighted by a superb lead performance from Denzel Washington. This is not a fun movie (despite my weirdo audience, who laughed at everything and every time Washington took a drink, wtf) and covers the unglamorous tropes of alcoholism ably. After the harrowing plane crash sequence, the movie takes a fairly introspective turn into a character study. Washington should definitely be Oscar nominated for this; I found it to be one of his best performances to date, kind of a hybrid of his most charismatic and villainous roles fused together to present this damaged addict of a person. A solid supporting cast (Don Cheadle, Bruce Greenwood, John Goodman, Melissa Leo) mostly hovers in Washington's orbit, although Kelly Reilly is excellent despite being absent for most of the film's final third. B+

I thought this was pretty fantastic. The crash sequence is perfectly executed and Denzel Washington was absolutely brilliant. This is easily one of his best performances and should certainly be recognized this awards season. I also adored Kelly Reilly and loved her character - I was a bit disappointed that she kind of disappeared in the final third of the film as I was as invested in her character's journey as Whip's. Still though, definitely a must-see. A-

Certainly a very well-acted afterschool special.

Pretty terrific performance from D. Washington, as per usual, but the rest is just "good."

Washington is good but I don't even know if I would nominate him here. The film really tries too hard to push messages in people's face, the most apparent being religion (the scene between Ken and Whip in the hospital being particularly over-the-top in pushing across a message). When the film ended, I felt that Whip didn't change at all but Zemeckis tries to say otherwise with the whole prison speech. The last scene also just didn't sit with me given the context of the film.

There are decent performances though from Washington, Greenwood, Goodman, and Cheadle and the time during the plane going down is quite gripping.

Washington is indeed great here and deserving of all the praise he's getting. The plance crash was amazing and surely one of the most intense sequences last year. The rest of the movie is, like most here already said, just ok. I thought Reilly was miscast, she never looked like a junkie to me or someone with an addiction problem.

Yes, boring. 5/10, because Denzel is still good.

Wow. What a beautiful movie and definitely one of my favorite and one of the most underrated movies of 2012. First off, the crash sequence was breathtaking. The acting in the film is great from the bigger players to the small supporting players. I've never been a huge Denzel Washington fan but damn, he was fantastic here and it would be great if he could win the Oscar, though he obviously has no chance. The film was slightly personal to me because I have friends who battle alcoholism and it is a very realistic portrayal of the disease, so much so I can forgive a few sequences of the film that were too obvious (the co-pilot Jesus bit, as well as the day before his hearing). Overall, it was a masterwork and I couldn't recommend it enough. I also had no issues with the ending, and even teared up a little bit. Fantastic!

9/10

I rented this yesterday randomly. I thought the trailers were pretty meh but I liked it. The first half hour is excellent, the rest not so much.

Reilly is very good too. But that ending...

I really don't see the problem with the ending.

Moralizing shit.

I loved the ending. Right when it appeared that they were going to go for the happy, inspiring ending where the clear implication is that Whip gets better and will go on to live happily ever after, his estranged son shows up to remind him what a fuck-up he's been, which suggests that he still has a long way to go in turning his life around.

Ummm, that still was totally an "inspiring ending"...

The son is there because he is writing a paper on the most interesting man he has never met. LOL.