dvd of the week
I was one of the very few people who loathed Flight, the film about a high functioning but still very messy alcoholic airline pilot (Denzel Washington) whose impressive skills saves most of his passengers during a harrowing plane crash, but whose addiction enables him to be a convenient fall guy for the embattled airline.
I was irritated that the movie purported to be about a plane crash but was actually about alcoholism, and addiction narratives as obvious and clichéd as Flight really bug me, even if that narrative is plopped inside a rather original larger story.
If you know that’s what it’s about, you’ll have less trouble. Washington is excellent as a very conflicted man in megatons of denial. As his friend and dealer, John Goodman is hilarious if unbelievable. Robert Zemeckis’ direction is laudable. As weird as the screenplay is, it’s a marvel that Zemeckis can make it all seem almost plausible. But he does.
