Flight

The more I think about this movie the more I kind of hated it. Denzel gives a very technically proficient performance, but I didn't give two sh!ts about his character. I kept thinking maybe if he suddenly and tragically died I might find some redemption in this tale, but no, he lived and lived for t w o h o u r s and t w e n t y m i n u t e s.

The dialogue was nothing special and the last 15 minutes or so turned into a Lifetime movie. Denzel's love interest was bland and I didn't care about her story either. They gave her way too much screentime without really developing her, and ignored more interesting characters like Don Cheadle and John Goodman.

So far this is biggest disappointment that the critics went nuts for.

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Is there a movie John Goodman ISN'T in these days? Not complaining, I love the guy!

*obligatory possible spoilers warning*

The film is a mess. It's poorly written, none of the supporting characters are particularly well-developed, it's SO LONG that by the time John Goodman makes his second appearance--nearly two hours after his first--I'd almost forgotten his character existed, the love story makes no sense from the beginning (why was he interested in her in the first place? just because they'd met by chance and are both broken people?), etc. There are so many ways in which the film fails that the overwhelming positive response makes no sense to me.

That said, I would rank Washington's performance as one of the top three in his career--and this comes from someone who is not a fan at all. Whizzer, I disagree with your characterization of his performance as simply "technically proficient". That is how I usually find Washington's acting to be--mannered, proficient star turns, always playing to the audience with a wink and a smile. This is one of the few times I've seen him really burrow deep into a character, and it really surprised me. Whatever the film's failings--which are many--I was blown away by Denzel.

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