Flying High

Flight is a movie that peaks during its opening scenes, but what a peak it is.  Its first act plane-crash sequence is the movie’s clear peak, an edge-of-your-seat ten minutes that are both breathlessly thrilling and terrifyingly believable.  In the cockpit is Whip Whittaker (Denzel Washington), a seasoned airline pilot with a serious alcohol and drug addiction.  Coming off a night of heavy drinking and a morning of cocaine use, Whip’s seemingly routine morning flight from Orlando to Atlanta suffers a severe mechanical error.  Through a combination of Zen-like calm and sheer skill, Whip manages to land the plane in a field with only six lives lost.  Though hailed as a hero by the media, he’s too busy mourning the death of his flight attendant paramour to bask in the spotlight.