This week, I rented the Robert Zemeckis directed live-action movie, “Flight”, also starring Denzel Washington. It was a Netflix DVD rental and I had to watch it twice before mailing it back to them.

It tells the story about a pilot named, Whip Whitaker, who is about ready to take a flight from Orlando to Atlanta. The only problem is Whip is an alcoholic and a cocaine addict. Before the flight, he got himself high on cocaine and got himself drunk as well. He thought he was good enough to be able to fly the plane. After the take-off as they were flying, the plane starts to malfunction and the plane starts to fly in a strange and unusual way. Whip had no choice but to do an emergency crashing on the plane saving the lives of most passengers on board including himself and the co-pilot. Only a few people were killed and some were injured. When he wakes up in the hospital, Whip was told by a friend from his airline union that a lawyer was going to come in to tell him that he is about to face a bunch of criminal charges ’cause of the plane crash that could land him for life in prison;  they found he was on high on cocaine and intoxicated. After Whip was discharged from the hospital and was able to leave, he becomes a hero after saving the lives of all the passengers on the plane while at the same time he continues to get accused of being high on cocaine and being extremely intoxicated. While out of the hospital and living his life, he falls for a woman who is a heroin addict/alcoholic and together they try to get themselves clean & sober. While Whip tries to get his life back together after the plane incident, he continues to struggle with alcoholism and drug addiction.

Enough of the synopsis. This movie got mixed reviews by people. Some loved it and some hated it. Some just loved the whole movie overall and some just loved it for the Denzel Washington performance alone. I would have to agree that Denzel’s performance in this movie was phenomenal and I think it was his best role since, “Training Day”, but I think the entire movie is great overall. I mean, this is Robert Zemeckis’s first live-action movie since 2000’s “Cast Away”. Zemeckis has been directing animated films for the past several years now. So I’m just so happy that he finally directed a new live-action film for once. Robert Zemeckis still has it too!

Zemeckis has been one of my favorite directors for years, and I’ve been following all of his live-action movies. He really is a unique director and when you watch a movie of his, you immediately know it’s his. He’s a special effects and camera wizard for sure. The man can come up with interesting camera angles and unique shots that no other director could do. He still shows that in, “Flight”. I think the plane scene was pretty thrilling and well done. As I was watching the plane scene, I felt like I was watching the “Back To The Future” movies, a little bit. It may seem pretty silly and weird, but it’s realistic at the same time.

I think the story over all is the most interesting part. A story about life and struggling with addiction; trying to become a better person. That’s what the film is about. The best part of the film is as soon as the movie opens, you’ll see a naked black woman, so that’s a big plus right there! I also loved John Goodman’s performance who played Whip’s friend and drug-dealer in the movie. The whole cast was well-acted by everybody.

I definitely did think this was one of the best films of 2012. I’m gonna want my own copy of this movie on BluRay soon. It is recommended to see. Zemeckis still has it with the live-action movies, and I hope he won’t make us wait so long for his next live-action flick. Definitely check this one out.

Kev