Plane Crash – Flight
One of the most fascinating uses of misdirection in a film’s marketing campaign is how Paramount underplayed the dark alcoholism so inherent to their Denzel Washington star vehicle Flight. The trailer looked like a mix between an Oscar contender and a charming romp for its appealing lead star. Appropriately, the ad was set to what may be one of the most soothing rock songs of all time – the Rolling Stones’ Gimme Shelter – which is also one of the bleakest tunes the band ever released, with its howls of rape and murder. The song’s appearance in those ads was a helpful hint at the dark territory the film would explore.
Although I do not really like Flight that much – John Gatins’ script should have focused at least one third of the running time to the character’s rehabilitation – it has a bravura opening act. The centerpiece of this act, when Washington’s airline pilot Whip Whitaker avoids a catastrophe even though he is hopped up on cocaine and liquor, is one of the most gripping action sequences ever put on film. The scene even achieves a bit of comedy, as the demure Whitaker is at odds with the intensity of the moment.
Few scenes in recent memory have reached a pitch of pulse-pounding excitement with the same speed. While we spend the majority of our time locked into place with the authorities in the front, we are often reminded of the panic the passengers feel in the cabin. As unsettling as much as it is edge-of-your seat exciting, it proves to be a remarkable piece of filmmaking – a few continuity errors aside, like the low height of the plane as it glides just above an apartment complex.
