Writer: John Gatins
Cast: Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Kelly Reilly
An airline pilot saves almost all his passengers on his malfunctioning airliner which eventually crashed, but an investigation into the accident reveals something troubling.
This is return to live action film for the director Robert Zemeckis after a gap of almost twelve years. He is firmly in the Spielberg school of film-making of which I am not a fan. The only films of his that I have seen before watching this are Forrest Gump and Cast Away both of which I find to be very overrated but good one time watches. I know that I should watch 'Back to the Future' for which he is most famous for. Unlike those films this is an R rated film and is his first one of them since early 80s. He also reckons that at $31 million budget, this is his cheapest film since 1980 when adjusted for inflation.
This film is also a great one time watch with it being stylish and comical at times but largely being a character study. Some people can be put off by the tonal changes that it takes but I enjoyed it. The highlight of the film of course would be the central performance by ever reliable Denzel Washington. Support cast is also great which also includes a cameo from John Goodman who appears always with 'Sympathy for the Devil' as the background score. One could argue that the ending is a bit moralizing but it is a credible one. If they had ended it any differently, people would be complaining about glorifying an addict.
The incident with the flight is loosely based on 2000 crash of Alaska Airlines Flight that left no survivors and was also inverted by its pilot. Some of the in flight things that are shown early, which constitutes only a small part of the film, are a bit Hollywoodish but can be excused since it is basically a character study. Overall it is a very good watch with a strong performance from Denzel Washington.
Rating: 3.5/5
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