I thought it interesting, and slightly curious, that Zemeckis, waiting 12 years to direct a new live-action feature after 2000's Castaway, would once again tackle a narrative revolving around a plane crash. However, where Castaway was relatively refreshing in its principal subject matter (isolation on a deserted island), Flight is not showing us anything new about its own (repressed alcoholism). Instead, its main goal seems to be to deconstruct Denzel Washington's typical screen persona, mainly resulting in the revelation of a vulnerability that eventually leads him to lose all self-control (and get romantically involved with a white woman, typically a big no-no for Denzel), something we haven't seen him do very often before the end of a picture. Even when Washington portrays morally ambiguous characters (Man on Fire, Training Day, American Gangster) he seems to maintain some degree of authority over the events unfolding around him, before an untimely death deprives him of the privilege to continue doing so. In Flight, the only time Whip is in complete control is when he is crash-landing the free-diving jumbo jet during what is arguably the film's most memorable scene. Throughout the rest of the picture, he is at the mercy of his self-denied addiction around which the bulk of the film revolves. Unfortunately, this loss of control is predictably overcome and by the end of the picture we are left with good-old repenting Denzel who has discovered the redemptive powers of the grace of God. While there is technically nothing wrong with the finished product (on the contrary, everything is in fact brilliantly executed) the script lacks any real creative insight when it comes to character exploration. Without Washington's powerfully convincing, persona-shattering performance, Flight might have been just about another barfly refusing to end his days of wine and roses.
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