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Flight
Flight
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Robert Zemeckis
Written by	John Gatins
Produced by	Walter F. Parkes; Laurie MacDonald; Steve Starkey; Robert Zemeckis; Jack Rapke;
Starring	Denzel Washington; Don Cheadle; Kelly Reilly; John Goodman; Bruce Greenwood; Melissa Leo;
Cinematography	Don Burgess
Edited by	Jeremiah O'Driscoll
Music by	Alan Silvestri
Production; companies	Parkes+MacDonald Image Nation; ImageMovers;
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release dates	October 14, 2012 (New York Film Festival); November 2, 2012 (United States);
Running time	138 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$31 million
Box office	$161.8 million

Flight is a 2012 American drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by John Gatins and produced by Walter F. Parkes, Laurie MacDonald, Steve Starkey, Zemeckis, and Jack Rapke. The film stars Denzel Washington as William "Whip" Whitaker Sr., an alcoholic airline pilot who miraculously crash-lands his plane after a mechanical failure, saving nearly everyone on board. Although hailed a hero, an investigation soon begins to cast the captain in a different light.

Flight premiered at the New York Film Festival on October 14, 2012, and was theatrically released the following month on November 2. It received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised Washington's performance and Zemeckis' return to live-action filmmaking, his first such film since Cast Away and What Lies Beneath in 2000. The film was also a commercial success, grossing $161.8 million against a production budget of $31 million. Flight appeared on multiple critics' year-end top ten lists and received two nominations at the 85th Academy Awards for Best Actor (Washington) and Best Original Screenplay.^[1]^[2]

Plot

Airline pilot Captain Whip Whitaker snorts cocaine to stay alert after a long night of drinking in his Orlando hotel room with Katerina Marquez, a flight attendant he will be flying with later that morning. He pilots SouthJetAir Flight 227 to Atlanta, which experiences severe turbulence during takeoff.

Meanwhile, amateur photographer and drug addict Nicole Maggen buys heroin and has an argument with her landlord. She suffers an overdose after injecting herself with the drug.

On the SouthJetAir flight, co-pilot Ken Evans takes over while Whip discreetly mixes vodka in his orange juice and takes a nap. He is jolted awake as the plane suffers a mechanical fault and goes into a steep dive. Whip regains control by pulling out of the dive and rolling the aircraft inverted, flying over Nicole's motel, and makes a controlled crash-landing in an open field. On impact, Whip suffers a blow to his head and loses consciousness.

Whip awakens in an Atlanta hospital with moderate injuries and is greeted by his old friend, Charlie Anderson, who represents the airline's pilots union. Whip learns his piloting skill managed to save 96 out of 102 aboard the plane, losing two crew members and four passengers. Evans is in a coma. Whip is then visited by friend and drug dealer Harling Mays, who proffers porn magazines, a carton of cigarettes, and a pint of vodka, the last of which Whip refuses. Whip sneaks away for a cigarette and meets Nicole, recovering from an overdose in the same hospital, along with a cheerful chemotherapy patient. The next morning, Mays picks up Whip from the hospital.

Having retired to his late father's farm, Whip meets Charlie and attorney Hugh Lang, who explain that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) performed a drug test while he was unconscious. Results showed that Whip was intoxicated during the flight, although Hugh gets the toxicology report voided on technical grounds.

Whip visits and becomes intimate with Nicole, but his drinking habits clash with Nicole's attempts to stay drug-free. Later, he attends a funeral for Katerina, a flight attendant who died in the crash, and with whom Whip had spent the night before the incident. He sees a surviving crew member, Margaret, and asks her to tell the NTSB that he was sober.

Whip pays a visit to Evans after he awakens from his coma. Evans has likely lost much of his ability to walk and may never pilot an airplane again. Although upset, Evans has no intention of telling the NTSB that Whip was drinking.

Nicole decides to separate from Whip after he fails to stay sober and he spontaneously drives to the home of his ex-wife and son, both of whom resent him. Hounded by the media, he stays with Charlie until the NTSB hearing, vowing not to drink. The night before the hearing, Charlie and Hugh move Whip to a guarded hotel room with no alcohol. He finds the door to an adjacent room unlocked and raids the minibar there.

The next morning, Charlie discovers Whip passed out drunk. Whip and Charlie call Harling to provide Whip with cocaine, hoping to get him alert enough to make it through the hearing. At the hearing, lead NTSB investigator Ellen Block explains that a damaged elevator assembly jackscrew was the primary cause of the crash. She commends Whip on his valor and skill, noting that no other pilot was able to land the plane in simulations of the crash. She then reveals that two empty vodka bottles were found in the plane's trash, despite beverages not being served to passengers, and that Whip's blood test was excluded for technical reasons. She then states the only other member of the crew to test positive for alcohol was Katerina. Whip pauses, unable to bring himself to blame Katerina for his actions. He collects himself and comes clean, admitting to being intoxicated the day of the crash. A tearful Whip also admits that he is presently drunk at the hearing and finally acknowledges that he has a problem, coming to terms with his alcoholism.

Thirteen months later, an imprisoned Whip is lecturing a support group of fellow inmates. He mentions that not all of the deceased victims' families have come to forgive him, but he is glad to be sober and having done the right thing. He is also working to rebuild his relationships with Nicole and his son, who visits to interview Whip for a college application essay. He begins by asking, "Who are you?" As a plane flies overhead, Whip replies, "That's a good question."

Cast

Denzel Washington and Kelly Reilly in Paris at the film's French premiere, January 2013.

Denzel Washington as Captain William "Whip" Whitaker
Don Cheadle as Hugh Lang
Kelly Reilly as Nicole Maggen
Bruce Greenwood as Charlie Anderson
John Goodman as Harling Mays
Melissa Leo as Ellen Block
Tamara Tunie as Margaret Thomason
Nadine Velazquez as Katerina Marquez
Brian Geraghty as First Officer Ken Evans
Peter Gerety as Avington Carr
Garcelle Beauvais as Deana Coleman
Boni Yanagisawa as Camelia Satou
Justin Martin as Will
James Badge Dale as Gaunt Young Man
Piers Morgan as Himself
E. Roger Mitchell as Craig Matson
Sarah Clark as Radio Talk Show Host (voice)
Vinnie Hasson as Radio Talk Show Host (voice)
Randy Thom as Radio Stock Market Reporter (voice)
Dennis P. Wise as Air Traffic Controller (voice)
Paul Volle as Air Traffic Controller (voice)
Hal Williams as Whip's Dad (voice)
Kwesi Boakye as Young Will (voice)
Ravi Kapoor as Dr. Kenan

Production

Robert Zemeckis entered negotiations to direct Flight in April 2011,^[3] and by early June had accepted, with Denzel Washington about to finalize his own deal.^[4] It was the first time that Zemeckis and Washington had worked together on a motion picture.

By mid-September 2011, Kelly Reilly was in negotiations to play the female lead,^[5] with Don Cheadle,^[6] Bruce Greenwood,^[6] and John Goodman^[7] joining later in the month, and Melissa Leo and James Badge Dale in final negotiations.^[8] Screenwriter John Gatins said in early October 2011 that production would begin mid-month.^[9] Flight was largely filmed on location near Atlanta, Georgia over 45 days in November 2011.^[10] The film was produced with a relatively small budget of $31 million, which Zemeckis calculated to be his smallest in inflation-adjusted dollars since 1980, made possible because of tax rebates from Georgia and because Zemeckis and Washington waived their customary fees.^[10]

Gatins explained in a 2012 interview with the Los Angeles Times that the dramatic fictional crash depicted in Flight was "loosely inspired" by the 2000 crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261,^[10] which was caused by a broken jackscrew. In that incident, an ungreased jackscrew came loose and caused a catastrophic failure from which recovery was impossible, though pilot Ted Thompson and first officer Bill Tansky were able to fly the plane inverted in the last moments of the flight. Among the captain's last words on the CVR were:

Okay we are inverted... Now we got to get it... Are we flying? We're flying... We're flying... Tell them what we're doing. At least upside down we're flying."^[11]

The Alaska Airlines 261 crash had no survivors. The airplane in Flight, a two-engine T-tail jet airliner, appears to be from the same model family as was the plane involved in the Alaska Airlines 261 disaster, a variant of the MD-80. Many elements from the accident were used in the film, such as the cause of the accident, segments of the radio communication, and the inversion of the airplane.

Scroggins Aviation Mockup & Effects was hired to supply three decommissioned MD-80 series aircraft that represented the plane in the film, with additional MD-80-series aircraft used for scenes in the cabin and cockpit.^[12]^[13]

Reception

Release

Flight opened in 1,884 theaters across the US and Canada on November 2, 2012, with a runtime of 138 minutes.^[14] In its first week, the film ranked second in the American box office, grossing US$24,900,566 with an average of US$13,217 per theater. Flight earned US$93,772,375 in the US and an additional US$68,000,000 in other countries for a total of US$161,772,375, well above its US$31 million production budget.^[1]

Critical response

Flight received mostly positive reviews, and has an approval rating of 78% based on a sample of 236 critics on Rotten Tomatoes, with a weighted average of 6.90/10. The site's consensus states "Robert Zemeckis makes a triumphant return to live-action cinema with Flight, a thoughtful and provocative character study propelled by a compelling performance from Denzel Washington".^[15] Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 76 out of 100 based on reviews from 40 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews".^[16] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.^[17]

Washington's performance received praise. The Hollywood Reporter's Todd McCarthy wrote that the film "provides Denzel Washington with one of his meatiest, most complex roles, and he flies with it".^[14] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four out of four, writing "Flight segues into a brave and tortured performance by Denzel Washington—one of his very best. Not often does a movie character make such a harrowing personal journey that keeps us in deep sympathy all of the way." He also noted the plane's upside-down flight scene was "one of the most terrifying flight scenes I've ever witnessed" and called the film "nearly flawless".^[18] Ebert went on to name the film the sixth best of 2012.^[19] Although the film was not nominated for Best Picture, he later noted that it deserved to be. Entertainment Weekly wrote, "Denzel Washington didn't get an Oscar nod for nothing: His performance as an alcoholic airline pilot ensnared by his own heroics is crash-and-burn epic".^[20]

The film received some criticism from pilots who questioned its realism, particularly the premise of a pilot being able to continue flying with a significant substance-abuse problem.^[21] The Air Line Pilots' Association dismissed the film as an inaccurate portrayal of an air crew and stated that "we all enjoy being entertained, but a thrilling tale should not be mistaken for the true story of extraordinary safety and professionalism among airline pilots".^[22] Airline pilot Patrick Smith also commented that "a real-life Whitaker wouldn't survive two minutes at an airline, and all commercial pilots—including, if not especially, those who've dealt with drug or alcohol addiction—should feel slandered by his ugly caricature".^[23] The pilot also criticised the portrayal of the relationship between copilot and captain, the decision of Whitaker to increase speed dangerously in a storm, and the ultimate dive and crash landing of Whitaker's aircraft.^[23]

Top ten lists

Flight was featured on 47 top ten lists by North American critics.^[24]

3rd – Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
3rd – Rafer Guzmán, Newsday
6th – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
7th – Richard Roeper, RichardRoeper.com
7th – Kyle Smith, New York Post
8th – Brian Tallerico, Hollywood Chicago
9th – Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
9th – Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

Awards and nominations

List of awards and nominations
Award	Category	Subject	Result
Academy Award	Best Actor	Denzel Washington	Nominated
Academy Award	Best Original Screenplay	John Gatins	Nominated
AACTA Awards	Best International Actor	Denzel Washington	Nominated
Art Directors Guild Award	Excellence in Production Design for a Contemporary Film	Nelson Coates	Nominated
Black Reel Award	Best Film	Flight	Nominated
	Best Actor	Denzel Washington	Won
	Best Supporting Actress	Tamara Tunie	Nominated
	Best Ensemble	The Cast of Flight	Nominated
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award	Best Actor	Denzel Washington	Nominated
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award	Best Original Screenplay	John Gatins	Nominated
Chicago Film Critics Association Award	Best Actor	Denzel Washington	Nominated
Chicago International Film Festival	Founder's Award	Robert Zemeckis	Won
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award	Best Actor	Denzel Washington	Nominated
Golden Globe Award	Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama	Denzel Washington	Nominated
Hollywood Film Festival	Spotlight Award	Kelly Reilly	Won
NAACP Image Award	Outstanding Motion Picture	Flight	Nominated
	Outstanding Actor	Denzel Washington	Won
	Outstanding Supporting Actor	Don Cheadle	Nominated
	Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture	John Gatins	Nominated
National Board of Review	Spotlight Award	John Goodman, also for Argo, ParaNorman, and Trouble with the Curve	Won
Online Film Critics Society Award	Best Actor	Denzel Washington	Nominated
Palm Springs International Film Festival Award	Director of the Year	Robert Zemeckis	Won
Satellite Award	Best Actor – Motion Picture	Denzel Washington	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture	John Goodman	Nominated
	Best Screenplay, Original	John Gatins	Nominated
	Best Visual Effects	Jim Gibbs, Kevin Baillie, Michael Lantieri and Ryan Tudhope	Won
	Best Editing	Jeremiah O'Driscoll	Nominated
	Best Sound (Editing & Mixing)	Dennis Leonard, Dennis Sands, Randy Thom and William Kaplan	Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role	Denzel Washington	Nominated
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association	Best Actor	Denzel Washington	Nominated
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association	Best Scene (favorite movie scene or sequence)	The plane crash	Nominated
Visual Effects Society	Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture	Kevin Ballie, Michael Lantieri, Chris Stoski, Ryan Tudhope	Nominated
Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Award	Best Actor	Denzel Washington	Nominated
Writers Guild of America Award	Best Original Screenplay	John Gatins	Nominated