Flight

Within in the first few moments of his appearance in Robert Zemeckis' Flight, it's clear that "Whip" Whitaker (Denzel Washington) is a man who needs a fix constantly. He drinks, snorts cocaine, even huffs the emergency oxygen on the plane. It's an interesting establishing character sequence, but the film itself deteriorates quite quickly.

It's not long before the film essentially becomes a huge PSA for substance abuse. Yes, the fact he flew (and then crashed) an airplane under the influence is unforgivable, but did you really need to cram that fact down our throats? (Granted, it's the premise of the film, but still.) Subtly is not present at any point in this film.

There are also a number of elements of Flight that weren't really needed. For starters, was the Kelly Reilly character really necessary? She basically just shows up and leaves without doing anything significant. And the God motifs throughout? Ugh.

Now don't get me wrong. Washington is a very fine actor, but he really could have done better here. He has his moments but ultimately it becomes the typical "alcoholic trying to clean up his act" role we see every other year. (If you want to see a good example of that role from last year, go see Smashed.)

To say I was underwhelmed by Flight is an understatement. The script is bogged down with almost every cliche possible about this material, which is ultimately the film's downfall. (How the hell did it get nominated?) A few worthwhile scenes here and there but all in all, Flight is a film that needs improvements. Big time.

My Rating: ***1/2

Cast Away

Robert Zemeckis is mostly noted for the special effects used in his movies (ie, Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Forrest Gump). But once in a while, he delivers an entertaining movie with little to no special effects.

Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) is a FedEx systems engineer whose personal and professional life are ruled by the clock. His fast-paced career takes him, often at a moment's notice, to far-flung locales - and away from his girlfriend Kelly (Helen Hunt). Chuck's manic existence abruptly ends when, after a plane crash, he becomes isolated on a remote island, cast away into the most desolate environment imaginable. Stripped of the conveniences of everyday life, he first must meet the basic needs of survival, including water, food and shelter. Chuck, the consummate problem solver, eventually figures out how to sustain himself physically. But then what? Chuck begins his true personal journey.

Hanks delivers a very good performance as Chuck Noland. Zemeckis manages to create a feeling of isolation throughout. If I was stuck on a desert island, I would bring this along for survival tips.

My Rating: ****1/2

Back to the Future

As I stated before, I'm not a huge fan of sci-fi. But now and then, I take a shine to it. Case in point, I'm reviewing Back to the Future.

Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) is a teenager who's unsure of what his future holds for him. His band was rejected from being the performing band for the school dance, and the only bright spots in his life are his girlfriend Jennifer Parker (Claudia Wells) and Emmett "Doc" Brown (Christopher Lloyd), the town's crackpot scientist and Marty's good friend. Doc is working on a time machine, which is fitted into a DeLorean sports car. Marty accidently gets sent to 1955, the date Doc entered, and is stuck there until he can find a way to power up the car. Along with that, he interferes with his parents' first meeting, causing his mother Lorraine (Lea Thompson) to fall in love with him instead of his father George (Crispin Glover).

If you read the premise on paper, you would've thought it was another B-movie or something of the sort. In reality, it's actually a pretty good sci-fo movie. The special effects are also good, though I think they're a little dated compared to, say, Avatar.

My Rating: ****1/2