This Flight peaks with a crash-landing. It happens at the 25-minute mark. The plot descends into an extended epilogue from there. It’s not as much about the airplane as it is about the pilot, nicknamed Whip. It was his technical know-how that saved 96 of the 102 “souls” on board, but, as far as The NTBS and a blood test are concerned, it could be his alcoholism that endangered their lives in the first place.

Robert Zemeckis cues the dramatic mood music, scored by Alan Silvestri, and lets the story coast. What Whip, played by a somber if not sober Denzel Washington does at the end is an automatic nominee for stupidest movie character decisions. It seems highly unlikely that a real-life pilot in his position would do such a thing on the grounds of mere morality. I’m with him and the movie up until that point.

my rating : 4 of 5

2012