Following my watch on Tom Hanks and his amazing act as Sully on Miracle on the Hudson, Denzel Washington steals my eyes with his equally breathtaking act as Whip Whitaker on Flight.
Hanks and Washington are my all-time favourite actors whose magnetic portrayals have often been revitalising the domain of modern-day English adventure films. Both actors dazzle on screen. My today’s focus is on Flight, Robert Zemeckis’s first live action film. Zemeckis does not need an introduction and owns Cast Away, The Polar, and A Christmas Carol to his credit; each movie recorded an immense success despite regular and usual criticism.
Passion
Zemeckis seems to have had a passion for flying and a dream of being on the cockpit. He, therefore, was naturally vulnerable to end up being moved by films that predominantly deal with planes and flyers who have more or less been able to have a huge impact on his career. In his Cast Away, Zemeckis takes the floor to the film with a fervent and fervid plane crash sequence whilst he approaches with Flight as well with the same pattern; the viewers open their eyes into a terrifying and scary plane crash sequence.
However, in contrast, pilot Whip Whitaker, magnificently played by remarkable Denzel Washington, incredibly staves off a fatal catastrophic disaster as he pulls off an effortlessly exceptional emergency landing. Whip Whitaker is a doyen, a renowned commercial airplanes pilot who was given birth by the hilarious acting traits of versatile Washington; Despite his professional charisma and versatility, Whip is noticed to have built a trembling and faltering forbearance for bulk of cocaine and alcohol that would be sufficient enough to cause destruction and death and hence its use creates multiple legal and health issues that have got a tremendous impact on the society.
With the opening of the movie, Whip is seen, winding up an all-night festivity along with a benevolent flight attendant; she is Katerina. Katerina is played by elegant Nadine Velazguez. Whip afterwards, with two lines of cocaine abruptly pushes and shakes himself into action. His Co-pilot, played by Brian Geraghty, knocks himself down with a feather, then the sight of Whip in such a situation is a bolt from the blue. Despite such an influence, Whip knows and also has a knack for pretending himself as an aviator who is self-composed, well assured, and poised; he instils his grace and authority from behind his sharp and curious eyes, covered with dark aviator glasses.
Amidst an alarming and creepy rainstorm, the flight takes off. Turbulence is inevitable. “Oh, Lord!”, is the utterance of the co-pilot. However, Whip has his own way. He powers the flight at high speed, which takes the flight into an area where there remains a clear sky, that is just for a second where a mechanical malfunction pushes the aeroplane that makes it to eventually end up encountering an intractable nosedive. The climax of terror and horror is almost up there, where Zemeckis smartly showcases the fright, panic, and trepidation that take the norm of the moment of a situation of this very calibre; you get butterflies on your stomach. You are afraid of your own shadow.
Instinct
Whip may rely on his natural instinct on which he sets himself. The veteran living within Whip inverts the plane to halt its descent. “On the screen is a plane that flies upside down until Whip rights it back again to glide into a level crash,” a viewer claims.
A critic said, “Whip is a raging alcoholic and cokehead. He was high and drunk at the time of the crash, even though he was clearly still able to do what he did”. Despite the scandals surrounded by Whip’s addiction related issues, his rather astounding job on the cockpit touches the heart of the viewer. 102 passengers are on board his plane, and 96 survive. “Toxicology reports and a few empty Vodka bottles on the plane prove that he was under the influence, and this information probably wouldn’t go over all that well with the public if it were released. In fact, it could result in serious criminal charges” a prominent film critic remarks.
Though Whip saves his passenger plane from a nosedive, his life’s nosedive crashes the plane of his life down; he is not quick and light in the motion of his life. Whip’s life itself is a mess with an estranged teenage son and ex-wife.
The audience might not be that bothered to comprehend and dive into the personal life of Whip, notably as to why he is into drugs and booze, in spite of the fact that he is required to be bound by certain ethics, designed for his career. However, Denzel’s terrific and stellar acting characteristics bring out concrete assurance on the mindset of the moviegoers to settle themselves in a realistically built-up world, despite the movie being a mere fiction itself. Drama is the genre of Flight. The cast comprises Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Kelly Reilly, Tamara Tunie, John Goodman, and Bruce Greenwood.
