Two-time Academy Award winner Denzel Washington is renowned for his dedication to his on-screen personas. Washington made his cinematic debut in Richard Attenborough’s apartheid-era drama Cry Freedom, and he cemented his status in the industry with a standout performance in 1989’s Glory. Since then, the actor, who was born in New York, has taken on a number of roles that appear to question the current quo and force viewers to view complicated situations in whole new ways. His lead role as Whip Whitaker in the 2012 film Flight was one of his most well-remembered performances. Fans of Washington may now watch Flight at home thanks to Netflix’s broadcast of the film.
Denzel Washington played the lead role of an intoxicated pilot operating a commercial airplane when the Flight first took off in cinemas. On one of his trips, he uses his exceptional flying abilities to save everyone on board by making a crash landing. The majority of people are found to be alive after the landing since Whitaker was able to save everyone saving two crew members and four passengers. At first seen as a hero, reports of his drinking while flying prompt an inquiry that reveals his social life and inner issues. Flight benefits from its stellar ensemble, which includes a pre-Yellowstone Kelly Reilly, Don Cheadle, Bruce Greenwood, John Goodman, and Melissa Leo.
Before Netflix purchased the rights to release Flight on its paid streaming service, the movie about an alcoholic pilot that was directed by Robert Zemeckis surged at the box office, grossing nearly $161 million against a $31 million budget. At the time, the film received positive reviews from critics; now, Rotten Tomatoes rates the Denzel Washington film as Certified Fresh with a Tomatometer score of 77% and an audience score of 75%. Similar to this, Metacritic gives Flight a Metascore of 76 based on 40 critic reviews and a User Score of 7.3 based on 413 ratings, both of which indicate generally positive reviews from critics and viewers.
John Gatins’ book Flight is partially based on a true plane accident that, in contrast to what happens in the movie, killed everyone on board, including the crew. Gatins, according to Yahoo! Movies, was motivated by Alaska Airlines Flight 261 pilot Ted Thompson’s valiant attempt to save everyone on board and attempt to arrest the plane’s fall before it crashed into the Pacific Ocean in 2000. The flight was headed to San Francisco at the time.
Despite the emotional strain of Denzel Washington’s character Whip Whitaker’s investigation and subsequent drinking issues, which dominate the second and third sections of the movie, the action scene of the plane crash in Flight is captivating on its own.