This Gritty Denzel Washington Drama Is Also One of Robert Zemeckis Best

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What Is 'Flight' About?

Flight Robert Zemeckis Denzel Washington Plane Flight

Flight begins with a day in the life of airline pilot Whip Whitaker (Washington), who is helming a flight to Atlanta. But a malfunction in the plane leads to it plummeting out of the sky, forcing Whitaker to invert the aircraft to land it. Though he manages to save the majority of the passengers and crew, Whitaker is wracked with guilt over the fact that he was severely drunk while flying. He's also placed under investigation when a toxicology report reveals the high alcohol levels in his blood. While Whitaker's friend Charlie Anderson (Bruce Greenwood) and lawyer Hugh Lang (Don Cheadle) work to clear his name, Whitaker strikes up a relationship with fellow addict/photographer Nicole (Kelly Reilly), coming to terms with his alcoholism in the process.

'Flight' Marked a Drastic Departure for Robert Zemeckis

Flight was a major swing for Zemeckis at the time; up until that point, the 21st century for the director had mostly involved dabbling in computer-animated films like The Polar Express, Beowulf, and A Christmas Carol. Flight marked his first live-action film since Cast Away, and also the first film since then to deal with such heavy subject matter. Whitaker's alcoholism is taken seriously; while he does pour out every bottle of alcohol he has when he gets home, there are moments in the film where he's clearly drunk - including the tense moment where he comes face to face with his ex-wife and son. Zemeckis and screenwriter John Gatins understand that working through alcoholism isn't a single step, but a series of steps. You have to be willing to take those steps, and have people help you.

But Flight also posed a challenge for Paramount, according to an interview Washington conducted with Deadline. It was one thing to get Zemeckis directing a Denzel Washington-led film, but it was another when it would feature a protagonist dealing with addiction. Eventually, Flight was made at a fraction of the price one would expect:

"It was not a struggle to get it made, but the studio wanted to do it for a price, and we ended up with [about] $28 million, and Robert Zemeckis made it look like $100 million, especially the plane sequence. So he and I threw our money back in the pot [and] took a tenth of our salaries."

The gamble paid off, as it let Zemeckis deliver a character-driven film - and gave Washington the chance to deliver one of his best performances.

'Flight' Features a Top-Notch Performance From Denzel Washington

Most of Flight is put on Denzel Washington's shoulders, and he centers the film with a great character-focused performance. Whitaker is a complicated man, a skilled pilot whose alcoholism cost him a marriage and a relationship with his son, which weighs on him. Washington also has a talented ensemble to work with and changes his performance based on who he's opposite. When it's Cheadle, there's a thinly veiled animosity; with Greenwood, outright honesty; with John Goodman's drug dealer, brotherly affection. His scenes with Reilly kick Flight into another gear. There's true intimacy between Nicole and Whip that is hampered by his self-destructive tendencies and her desire to stay clean.

But Washington saves the best for last during Whitaker's hearing. At first, he stays cool, calm, and collected, but eventually breaks down and confesses to his alcohol abuse. "I'm drunk right now," he says, his voice halting and trembling, "because I'm an alcoholic." Only Washington could have pulled off a performance like this, and it deserves to be talked about in the same breath as his performances in films like Training Day or Malcolm X. Like those roles, he poured himself into the character of Whip Whitaker and made Flight a truly compelling drama.

'Flight' Is a Rarity that Studios Need More Of

Flight was a rarity when it was released: it came at a time when the paradigm was starting to shift to big-budget blockbusters and IP, and the fact that it scored an actor of Denzel Washington's caliber on a fraction of those other movies' budgets is nothing short of astonishing. But the risk paid off, as Flight turned out to be a critical and commercial success, even scoring a pair of nominations at the Academy Awards (Best Actor for Washington and Best Original Screenplay for Gatins). Flight did face pushback from actual airline pilots, as they doubted that any pilot could have pulled off the feats Whitaker did in an intoxicated state (this is also touched upon in the movie). Pilot Patrick Smith was even quick to point out that any pilot who behaved like that in real life would be promptly arrested.

Flight isn't just a big swing for Robert Zemeckis and Denzel Washington, it's the kind of film that more filmmakers and actors should swing for. Character-driven pieces often bring out the best in actors, while also letting directors get back in touch with their roots. By fully exploring the impact alcoholism can have on someone's life, and taking a more realistic approach to his filmmaking after years of computer-generated films, Zemeckis delivered one of the best films of his career with Flight - and it's an avenue he should seriously consider returning to in the future.