Flight (2012) - Have You Had Enough?

★★★★☆

‘Flight’ opens with a naked woman waking up to a morning alarm call. Beside her lies a man (Denzel Washington) reluctant to get up, seemingly suffering a hangover. On the nightstand beside him are bottles of hard drinks and cigarettes, suggesting he’s a heavy drinker & smoker. We don’t know his name, and what he does just yet. Here comes something shocking, this guy has to suck cocaine before he can finally get out of the room and get to work. Now we know, judging by the uniform he puts on, that he’s an airline pilot. Right, you may’ve guessed, as you see in the trailer, that he’s going to cause the plane crash. Yes, the plane’s going to crash but it’s got nothing to do with his addictions to alcohol and drugs. He kind of saves the day on the contrary. It makes him a hero, just not the one people normally see, but the one he needs for himself.

‘Flight’ marks the return of Academy Award winning (1994’s Forrest Gump) Director Robert Zemeckis to live action films since his 2000’s ‘What Lies Beneath’ and ‘Cast Away’. He was too busy making animations though. So glad that he hasn’t lost his knack for a brilliant plot and extracting great performances from quality actors. Denzel, as a result, is nominated for this year’s Academy for his leading role in ‘Flight’, his best performance in years I consider. We’re strongly convinced that he’s such a pathetic drunkard & drug addict that’s piling himself up with lies and struggling to break the habit yet can’t seem to find the reason why he should until… your guess is as good as mine!

What makes this film so intriguing and engrossing is that you never know when he’s going to break, not until the very last few minutes of the film. You keep guessing and feeling like he should’ve had enough, but it keeps disappointing and teasing you in a way. When the final moment of confession does come, it moves so! Denzel Washington’s Whip, however, doesn’t shed a tear while facing the music, but I did, as the end credits started to roll. I know it takes a lot of courage to say, alright, I’ve had enough of this! I gotta stop lying about my own problems even though the price to pay is very big. Not everyone has such guts and willingness to do so, because running away is much easier than facing up to it. That’s why I agree that the most common lie we keep saying is, I’m fine!

‘Flight’ is indeed a great lesson. See it, and you’ll learn what makes a man, and how you can start going down the road to true happiness!