The Story:
Airline pilot Whip Whitaker (Denzel Washington) is an alcoholic, and enjoys cocaine, and really, any other drug he can get his hands on. Unfortunately, he likes to indulge this before work, after work, and heck, during work. The really weird part, he seems to be completely functional at that level of impairment. Amazingly enough, his plane malfunctions, and Whip does everything in his power to save the jet and the 102 onboard. It crashes, 6 die, and then the trial and true test of his piloting and his character will be put to the test.
A story so unbelievable, you believe that it's real, but it's not. Completely fictional, a rarity in Hollywood these days.
Denzel is on his game, as always, as a pilot who is really good at what he does, but he's not really that nice of a guy.
In his corner is the union rep for the pilots (Bruce Greenwood) who brings in a sharp lawyer (Don Cheadle) to save his friend, but even their attempts at working magic get hampered because of Whip's constant addiction, fed with great amusement by John Goodman.
It's a double-edged sword of a movie. He's not a bad guy, he just did some foolish things. However, he's done them so well, for so long, that's simply how his body works.
None of that had anything to do with causing the crash, and you wonder if he will get away with murder, or at least, manslaughter.
The ending is both wonderful, and terrible, at the same time.
I give all the credit in the world for that to Denzel, the story, and the superb direction by Robert Zemeckis. It's nice to see him not doing that weird animation style for a change. : )
Final Grade: B
Would I Own It: Since it is a drama, it's unlikely, but I could watch it again in the future.
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