Being a movie buff I’ve probably watched everything Denzel Washington has been in. But after watching “Flight” I’m still wondering what was the purpose.
Every movie, even the dumbest comedy’s purpose, is to make somebody laugh.
I guess the purpose was to enlighten the world about alcoholism and drug addiction. But did they make any kind of point?
Don’t get me wrong. Denzel did an excellent job of being that alcoholic, drug addicted pilot. Those of us who have friends, relatives and others strung out on alcohol know the different personalities, the refusal to accept the truth and the lying to themselves and everyone else. He was these people.
But my confusion was the plane crash.
The crash was because of a defect in the plane, not because of his addiction.
At the hearing it was established that after every kind of test the best pilots in the world would have crashed the plane and killed everyone on board. Because he was a superior pilot, he landed it with only six of the 104 people dying. It was established that only he could have landed that plan. And even if he had been sober, he could not have done any better.
So what was the point of the movie?
If his being drunk and high had caused the accident then he should have been thrown in jail and the key thrown away. But he went to prison and lost his license because he broke rules and laws, not because he wasn’t able to do his job better than anyone else even despite his addictions.
Which leads to the question. If a drunk and high person can fly or drive better than a person who is not drunk, who do you want to ride with? I know several people who I am very reluctant to get in the car with and they don’t drink, or use drugs, to the best of my knowledge.
Even though the crash part of the movie was the most exciting part of it and the entire movie centered around it, it didn’t seem to fit the rest of the movie, which was this person, who happened to be a pilot, not trying to come to grips with his addictions.
This movie also starred Don Cheadle, who was wasted on a non-exciting character, and John Goodman who was an interesting character.
Denzel is probably the biggest Black star in Hollywood; he needs to be more selective about the movies he plays in. Again, great job acting, but what was the point?
Pittsburgh native Tamara Tunie played a key role in the film as an airline stewardess who helped land the plane. She’s a regular as a medical examiner in “Law and Order SVU.”
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