Flight (2012)

Flight blows its biggest thrill early, then asks you to stay for the hard part. Whip Whitaker rolls a diving jet upside down to keep it in the air, and it’s the most gripping sequence Robert Zemeckis has shot in years. After that, the movie trades the cockpit for hospital stairwells and an empty family farm, and becomes a long, honest look at a man who can’t stop drinking and won’t admit it. Denzel Washington never begs for sympathy. He plays Whip as charming, proud and lying to everyone, himself first, and the stretches where he almost holds it together are the toughest to watch. The weak link is Kelly Reilly’s Nicole, whose own recovery story gets dropped right when it gets interesting, and at 138 minutes the middle circles a lot. It made $93.8 million domestic on a reported $31M. A 7.6 because Denzel turns the slow, painful part into the reason to watch. $8,493 says you read the whole safety card on your next flight, front and back, for the first time ever.

What works: Denzel Washington gives a fearless, unflattering performance, and the crash sequence is as tense as anything in the genre.

What doesn’t: Nicole’s storyline fades out halfway through, and the middle hour repeats the same slide back into drinking a few times too many.

Who it’s for: Grown-up viewers who want a serious character drama with one unforgettable action scene up front.