Saturday, November 10, 2012
FLIGHT (2012) Jeff's Video Review
Directed By: Robert Zemeckis
Written By: John Gatins
Cinematography By: Don Burgess
Editor: Jeremiah O'Driscol
Cast: Denzel Washington, Bruce Greenwood, John Goodman, Don Cheadle, Nadine Velasquez, Kelly Reilly, Garcelle Beauvais, Brian Geraghty, Melissa Leo, Tamara Tunie
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I enjoyed the film a lot and it was great to see Zemeckis make not just a live-action film but a GOOD film, which hasn't happened in a loooong time. There were a few times that he dabbled in some of his old ways that I could have done without; a couple moments that felt cartoonish. The first is when Denzel starts drinking again in the car. It's not completely unrealistic, but the way it was three different drinks over the span of a few edits felt a little comedic to me. Also, the great little scene in the hospital with the copilot was punctuated with those "Praise Jesus!" bits which felt too jokey and satirical. People like that don't just say "Praise Jesus" like that over and over again in that context.
ReplyDeleteI liked the music choices, though early on it felt a little like they were too on the nose, which I'll call the Forrest Gump syndrome. Opening with BNL's "Alcohol" was nice, and a song that doesn't get a whole lot of respect. But when the girl comes home with her heroin to the sounds of "Under the Bridge", I worried it was going to be the "obvious 90s music cue hour". But that tapered off.
Good film overall, great performance from Denzel. I was glad he was cast because usually it feels like when Zemeckis wants a great everyman actor he just uses Tom Hanks. And while Hanks would have done well in the role too, casting Denzel really added something for me. I don't want to think of race as an issue all the time, but I thought the casting of this film with high-caliber actors of all colors really sold the reality of the movie. It would have been so easy to just make everyone white or make a big thing of it being a black guy's story, if that makes sense. I thought the casting was flawless.