November 4, 2012

  • Flight (spoilers)

    It's not really about the plane's crash, unlike what the trailers suggest.  That fact would have been extremely disappointing if I didn't already learn that on my own before going in.  So I wasn't completely blindsided by it.  No, the movie is, quite simply, about an alcoholic and his trek towards redemption from this struggle of alcohol addiction.  The Flight isn't the plane's flight per se, but more his own flight, towards the freedom from his own private prison.  When you know that fact going in, it's a little easier to accept.  That doesn't mean the movie itself is easy to watch, however.  It was actually downright depressing seeing a movie depicting a critical event from the perspective of a man who is his own worst enemy.  Just put the drink down! How hard can that be?  Quit running to a bottle and own up to your responsibilities!  But no...it's never that simple.  Alcoholism is the villain in this movie, and I hated it.  IT, as in, alcoholism itself and what such an addiction can do to people.  But everyone has their weaknesses; everyone fights their own demons.  And in that sense, through Washington's superior acting chops, this movie is pretty good.  Because in end, through his own admission of guilt with a tear down his eye, he finally, FINALLY admits to the world, "I am an alcoholic," and thus the first step to becoming a changed man was taken.  The plane crash for this man was something of an eye-opener for him.  Though alcohol had nothing to do with the crash, it had everything to do with how he dealt with the crash.  It was his escape form life, from problems, from responsibilities.  It was ugly to see just what addictions can do to people, helping them run away from who they are or who they're meant to be.  It's a good thing when someone wins against a dangerous addiction.  

    What I didn't care for was the integration of religion in certain areas, at least not in the manner it was presented. It was evident that they were simply going for a sort of "godly" revelation for Denzel's character using the various characters and/or occurrences in the plot, but I just wish it was presented in a less err...invasive manner? I mean, I'm a Christian, and I found even myself repulsed by a character's freakishly robotic declaration of praising Jesus.  Christians presented in such an overly religious, stoic, unfeeling, or zombie fashion isn't accurate, or at least it isn't supposed to be.  And frankly, it makes me sigh that there are self-declared Christians out there who act in the manner that these couple of characters did, fooling the world into thinking that this is how Christians are supposed to be.  In the movie, the co-pilot and his wife are quite clearly meant to represent Christians of a "holier-than-thou" persuasion, sneering at people who are not believers instead of loving on them.  You don't grip your cross around your neck while staring at someone with your hallow eyes and just randomly say "Praise Jesus!" when someone states their own translation of what they think God did or did not do.  It makes you look foolish, hypnotized, and in need of your own freedom.  But as I said, it appears that what they were going for is to have Denzel's character be reminded by everyone around, whether they be religious or not, that he needs to change his ways.  So if those versions of Christians still did their part in the movie to help spark his transition, then so be it.  In the end, the most important matter is that he finally realized that through all events that occurred, he ended up a free man, even if he had to spend it in prison.  What's most important is that the one moment when he could have cowered behind his drinking one final time, where the blame could have been placed on the shoulders of a dead woman whose last act of heroism lead to her death, he instead chose to own up to it, to face it dead in the eye, and become what he is supposed to be, whatever that may entail.

    I also didn't care for the useless nudity by one of the female characters.  It seemed without purpose and exploitative in nature.  At least at first.  But then, when I analyzed it enough, it seems to be a point all its own. Not the nudity itself, but the woman in general.  In the end, when this lover of his was presented to him in an unpleasant manner (having had problems with drugs and alcohol herself), it seemed to have struck a personal chord with Denzel's character.  He sees what she was before she died, and then saw what she was capable of in her last moments: saving a little boy, casting herself aside.  So she's not some whore or prostitute or trashy girl he's sleeping with, as my first thought suggested. She was a human being who can do heroic things no matter how ugly her past was.  It was the final nudge for him to make his own heroic act, so as not to have her image tarnished by hiding his own.  All in all, a good movie that depicts humanity in its ugliest form, along with its most beautiful form.  A hero wrapped up in an ugly package on his "Flight" to freedom.