Ed's Review Dot Com

ImageMovers, Paramount Pictures, Parkes/MacDonald Productions,

Denzel Washington, John Goodman, Don Cheadle, Melissa Leo, Brian Geraghty, Bruce Greenwood, Kelly Reilly, Tamara Tunie, Garcelle Beauvais, James Badge Dale, Rhoda Griffis, Kwesi Boakye, Michael Beasley, Adam Tomei

Whip Whittaker (Denzel Washington) is an ace airline pilot. But he has a serious addiction problem, drugs and alcohol. On a flight from Orlando to Atlanta, something awful happens to the plane, and everyone on-board is doomed were it not for the unbelievable moves Whip makes to crash the plane but save the lives of hundreds of people. He is hailed as a hero, and hounded by the media, but his condition at the time of his heroic moves come into question as the NTSB investigates the crash.

This is a very serious film. Aside from a few moments when John Goodman is on-screen, there’s very few light moments in this film. Whip is on a dive for rock bottom more severe than the plane’s dive! He is in serious denial, and yet, as despicable as he is, we get to really like him. The first 20 minutes or so of the flight is extremely well done, and very well filmed. It’s white knuckle time for sure, and very good. But then we get introduced to a slew of new characters, all of which seem to have Whip’s well being in mind. The drama is just as suspenseful as the action part. Whip is really screwed up, and Denzel’s portrayal of this guy is spot on.

This movie is a trip. I was really caught off-guard by the turn this film took. I expected an airline disaster movie, which was really a sidebar to the real subject of the film. It’s a disaster movie alright, but a disaster of a life rocked by denial and lies upon lies. Very dramatic, and very realistic, and very dark and sad. It’s not an easy film to watch, but a very well done character study, and very much worth watching.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog