The missus suggested we go see a film called Flight last weekend. I jumped at the chance. A full theatrical version of the magnificent series of comics edited by Kazu Kibuishi? Oh yes please!Turns out it wasn't that. It was a film with Denzel Washington which kicks off with a very, very realistic passenger jet crash. Not exactly what someone with a fear of lying, such as yours truly, would want to see.But after I'd taken my fingers from my ears and open my eyes, I was very pleased I'd delayed the next time I get on a plane by another 2 years.
The film is about the emancipation of a man from alcohol, not the very stylist and way too terrifying (as far as I'm concerned) crash at the beginning, and very well done it is too. I took notes throughout.
Washington is not a bad man. He's also not particularly a good man. He's just a man. We're given reason to root for him from the get go (not really a spoiler, but he lands the plane and saves a lot of lives), then another smaller one, just before he crashes back down to bottom. He's struggling against himself, he's threatened by a system which would hang the crash on his dependence. And throughout both problems get steadily worse.
I listened to a radio interview with fantasy novelist Raymond E Feist where he said his screenwriter father gave him his most important piece of advice: give the audience someone to root for from the beginning. Flight does this , and it never lets go throughout the film.
Go see it, just take earplugs.
Michael