By Nicole Branco

** Contains spoilers
If the previews of Flight showing an upside down airplane in the sky coming to its fall were not shocking enough, the movie itself will definitely keep you entertained with its story of how a pilot miraculously lands a defective plane.
The 2012 action packed drama directed by Robert Zemeckis stars the very talented actor, Denzel Washington in which he plays the role of a drug addicted, alcoholic pilot named William Whip Whitaker who must save a flight from crashing while an investigation into the malfunctions of the plane reveals something troubling about his character. The film runs for two hours and 20 minutes.
The movie begins with William Whip Whitaker nude in a bed with Katerina Marquez, one of his flight attendants played by Nadine Valazquez. It’s clear in this scene that there has been a large amount of binge drinking the night before. After getting out of bed, he snorts a line of cocaine to start his day and heads to the airport to fly a plane as if this is part of his daily routine.
Being under the influence of alcohol and cocaine it’s rare that a person is in well enough condition to take such a responsibility as flying an airplane. However, the audience is immediately assured that this is Whips “normal” state of mind, in fact we later find out that this is when he thinks his best.
A few moments after the flight begins the plan dives, meaning its nose end flies lower than its back end, leading to a fast, full impacted fall straight towards the surface. This is the most important part of the film seeing as after this scene of the crash, the rest of the movie’s plot is directed towards what happened in this very moment.
Whip remains surprisingly calm the whole time he is flying the plane while his co-caption who is played by Brian Geraghty is panicking next to him in his seat. After both of them yell out directions for changes in speed and altitude, Whip comes to a realization. He states that the plane will have to go upside down in order to be stable until landing. Without wasting much time, the caption turns the plane upside down in the middle of the air which means that the passengers also turn upside down. Most of them are in their seats with seat belts on while one child and two flight attendants are not. Katerina Marquez, leaves her seat to save a little boy in the plane.
After all of this commotion the plane comes to its devastating but miraculous fall. Because of the pilot’s ability to handle the situation, he manages to land the plane in an open field. The landing however is in no way safe or minimal. Six people on the flight die; four passengers and two members of the crew.
Because of Whip’s capability of preventing the plane from killing everyone on the flight, he is shortly praised by the media. They say that if any other pilot was flying that plane, everyone would have died.
Although it’s only a matter of time before people start to find out about his drug and alcohol consumption before the crash. Whip then goes on to try and hide the fact that he was under the influence. He attends several meetings with judges and lawyers and continues to lie in each situation. By the end of the film, the guilt sets in and Whip admits to his wrong doings. He is sentenced to life in prison.
The film concludes with Whip’s son, who has had a rough relationship with his father, interviewing him in prison for a college essay. He tells his father the essay is titled, “The man I never met” and his first question is “Who are you?” Whip answers, “That’s a good question.”
The effects in this movie were incredibly realistic. The scene where the plane was upside down until it reached the ground and crashed looked incredibly realistic as if CGI were not used at all. The acting also made this movie believable because there was a great deal of emotion presented through the actors, which greatly reflected the mood of the movie.
Also, the fact that one ticket only cost $3.50 on this particular Tuesday night did not hurt either.
All of these qualities led to a very well done film. There were no complaints heard from fellow viewers and definitely not from this one. Flight is currently playing at Cinema World Theaters on the John Fitch Highway in Fitchburg.