PopTop review: 'Flight' stays aloft on Washington's performance, tight script

GRADE • B

DVD • It's appropriate that the two Oscar nominations "Flight" received were for Denzel Washington's performance and John Gatins' original screenplay — because they are the only things that make this alcoholism drama worth recommending.

Washington plays "Whip" Whitaker, a veteran airline pilot who covers his raging alcoholism by the occasional bump of cocaine to level himself off chemically. On one flight, a mechanical problem sends his plane into a nosedive, and Whip uses his quick thinking to crash-land the jet in a field, allowing most of the plane's passengers and crew to survive.

The movie's real story is internal, as the ensuing investigation uncovers Whip's ridiculously high blood-alcohol level, leaving Whip bouncing between enablers (like his drug-dealing pal, played by John Goodman) and those, such as a recovering junkie (Kelly Reilly), who force him to confront his addiction.

Director Robert Zemeckis pulls out all the special-effects stops creating the crash, but he telegraphs too many emotional cues. Gatins' simple, direct script gives Washington room to explore the self-delusion and self-loathing that intertwine in Whip's battle with the bottle. —

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