Flight

Genre:

Drama/Thriller

Directed by:

Robert Zemeckis

Starring:

Denzel Washington, Kelly Reilly, Don Cheadle, Bruce Greenwood, Brian Geraghty, John Goodman, Tamara Tunie

Release date:

Fri 02, Nov 2012

      Flight is a 2012 American drama film directed and co-produced by Robert Zemeckis and featuring an ensemble cast including Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Melissa Leo, Bruce Greenwood, Kelly Reilly, and John Goodman. Flight is Zemeckis' first live-action film since 2000's Cast Away and What Lies Beneath.

Plot

      Airline captain William "Whip" Whitaker (Denzel Washington) awakens in his Orlando hotel room with flight attendant Katerina Marquez (Nadine Valezquez) after a night of sex and alcohol -- and very little sleep. After using cocaine to wake up, he begins to pilot a flight to Atlanta. Although they experience intense turbulence during takeoff, they reach a non-turbulent altitude above the storm. Copilot Ken Evans (Brian Geraghty) flies the plane while Whip discreetly mixes himself a drink and then takes a nap. A few minutes before final descent into Atlanta, a loud mechanical noise jolts Whip awake. The plane goes into a steep dive. After being unable to obtain any manual control of the horizontal stabilizer, Whip rolls the plane into an inverted position (flying upside-down) to bring it out of the nosedive, then maneuvers the plane right-side up just before crash-landing in a field. He loses consciousness upon impact.

     Whip awakens in an Atlanta hospital. He is greeted by Charlie Anderson (Bruce Greenwood), a former pilot and colleague who is now a representative in the airline's pilots union. He tells Whip his heroism saved 96 of 102 people onboard. An NTSB official informs him Katerina was among those killed. A doctor informs Whip that his injuries are not life-threatening and that he will be soon cleared to return home.

     The next night in the hospital, Whip meets Nicole (Kelly Reilly), who is recovering from a heroin overdose. Whip promises to visit her when they leave the hospital. In the morning, Whip is picked up by his friend and drug dealer, Harling Mays (John Goodman), and goes to stay at his deceased father's farm, where he hopes to avoid media interviews. Later he drives into the city to meet Charlie and attorney Hugh Lang (Don Cheadle). They reveal that the NTSB performed a toxicology screen while he was in the hospital that revealed his intoxication, which could result in Whip going to prison on both drug and manslaughter charges. Lang says he can convince the NTSB to disregard the test results. On his way home, Whip passes Nicole's apartment, decides to visit her, and sees her being evicted. Whip offers to let her stay at the farm.

     Nicole and Whip begin a romantic relationship, but the stress of the NTSB investigation exacerbates Whip's alcoholism and he ultimately drives her away. The media discovers his farmhouse, forcing him to stay elsewhere. In a drunken stupor, he visits his estranged ex-wife and son, and has to be escorted from the house by the police. He goes to stay with Charlie, and is forced to stop drinking ahead of the upcoming NTSB hearing.

     The night before the hearing, Charlie and Hugh check Whip into a guarded hotel room to ensure he does not get drunk. The refrigerator in the hotel room is stocked with only nonalcoholic beverages, but Whip discovers the door to the adjoining room is open and finds alcohol in that refrigerator. Charlie and Hugh find him the next morning passed out and drunk. He has them call Harling, who brings him cocaine to perk him up for the hearing.

     At the hearing, Ellen Block (Melissa Leo), the lead NTSB investigator, reveals that the cause of the plane's malfunction was a broken jack-screw in the elevator assembly. She commends Whip on his valor, pointing out that no other pilots were able to safely land the plane under the same circumstances in simulations. She knows about his toxicology results but Hugh has had them declared inadmissible. Just as it appears Whip will escape any culpability, Block notes there were empty alcohol containers found on the plane; Whip knows these were his. She points out that only the flight crew had had access to the alcohol, and since only Katerina's toxicology screen showed alcohol, Block suggests Katerina may have been drinking on the job. Whip admits he was flying drunk. Sometime later, Whip is in a prison counseling group, saying he is glad to be sober and does not regret doing the right thing. He has reconnected with Nicole and is working to mend the relationship with his estranged family.

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References.

External links:

"Main Page." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 Nov. 2012. Web. 05 Nov.  2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page>.

https://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi 

 

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