Crash and Burn! My Review of Flight

Oh wow! Wow! Those were the words in my head as I watched veteran film maker Robert Zemeckis’ Flight. Flight starring two time Academy Award winner Denzel Washington, tells the story of Captain William "Whip" Whitaker, an alcoholic and recreational druggie, who successfully crash lands a passenger jet while under the influence of drugs and booze. Whip saves 96 out of the 102 passengers and crew members on board. Unfortunately, one of the dead is his flight attendant and occasional girlfriend, Katerina Marquez (Nadine Velasquez), who had been out partying with him the previous night.

The film follows the subsequent investigation into the remote and immediate causes of the plane crash and the heroics of Whip Whitaker whose unconventional method of flying the plane upside brought it out of its nose dive; a move which undoubtedly saved the 96 lives. Hired by the airline to control the situation are Charlie Anderson (Bruce Greenwood) an old friend of Whip’s, and lawyer Hugh Lang (Don Cheadle). This is a tough task as the toxicology report on Whip shows that he was intoxicated at the point of the crash. However, Hugh uses his skills to quash the report and assures that it would not see the light of day. With a hearing by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) a few days away, he approaches his co-pilot for the day Ken Evans (Brian Geraghty) and regular attendant on his flights, Margaret Thomason (Tamara Tunie) and coerces them to testify that that the SouthJet flight 227 was just like “any ordinary day”. They agree.

Whip retreats from the spotlight and befriends Nicole (Kelly Reilly) an addict he meets at the hospital. Now while they try to draw strength from each other on the road to the recovery, Whip slips back into his ways as he finds it hard to deal with the attention, the pressure from the media, his lawyers, the airline and his ex-wife’s refusal to let him see his son. Before long, Nicole abandons him telling him that his refusal to get better is not good for her own recovery. He hits rock bottom and has to move in with Charlie so as to stay clean into the hearing. However, the night before the hearing, having been checked into a locked and mini-bar-free hotel room, he takes advantage of an unlocked door to an adjoining room and proceeds to empty its mini-bar. The next morning Charlie and Hugh are furious when they find him drunk with the hearing an hour away. Harling Mays drug dealer and friend of Whip’s, played by John Goodman is called in. He brings some cocaine which straightens Whip out in time for the hearing.

At the hearing he scales through all the questions asked by lead investigator Ellen Block (Melissa Leo). It is revealed that the plane crash was caused by a mechanical malfunction. Whip is in fact praised for his heroics echoing the sentiments of the media. Ms. Block asks a final question as to the presence of two empty bottles of vodka found in the crashed plane. The presence of the bottles is contentious as Whip had ordered that drinks not be served during the flight due to turbulence. And since Katerina’s report was the only one that showed alcohol in her bloodstream, Ms. Block asks Whip if he thinks Katerina may have been intoxicated at the time of the crash. Whip replies in the negative admitting that he was the one that drank the vodka (which was true), that he was intoxicated at the time of the crash and that he was currently intoxicated. The hearing erupts with an angered Hugh and Charlie. Whip gets convicted of manslaughter and serves a five year sentence.

Phew! I just had to write that long plot synopsis to sort of help put the rest of the review in perspective. Flight is one powerful film, one that would have been talked about for days if it had come out in the 80s or 90s - a classic. But in today’s film terrain is it so easy for a film like Flight to get lost in the crowd. Acting was very good all around. There was no over-acting as the STORY was the star of the film. However, Denzel Washington’s performance was painfully convincing bearing in mind that we could only see the outsides of who the man Whip was. Can anyone really adequately evince the internal conflict that Whip was going through? I sense this was deliberate by director Zemeckis (Back to the Future I-III, Forrest Gump, Cast Away, Beowulf, A Christmas Carol) and writer John Gatlins (Coach Carter, Real Steel).

A hero to many, a damaged person to himself and those who knew him, Whip Whitaker was a bit of an anti-hero. I found myself not caring whether or not he was drunk, crunk or freaking asleep!  He did save 96 lives! He saved 96 lives when everyone could have died! The mechanical fault was not his, he was in control and he executed a move he probably would not have thought of had he been sober. This was confirmed when simulations of his flying the plane upside down by other pilots all ended in crashes.

But the truth was that Whip was an addict; the kind of drunk and junkie that laymen would not recognize  his type required a trained eye. Whip was also a survivor: he had survived his childhood, his failed marriage and was trying to survive his condition when the plane crashed. Heck he was even trying to survive the investigation! But he was doing that in the wrong place. The scene where he goes around the farm house removing stashes of beer and bottles of alcohol had me with my mouth open. Dude was an alcoholic! Booze was within easy reach in EVERY room of the house!

Whip was shown sometimes winning the fight against his addiction but always eventually giving in to it. Even Nicole’s presence could not help him as he threatened to drag her down too. The hotel room scene where he opens the mini-bar and sees what could best be described as a “drunkard’s heaven” was classic. He opens the mini-bar, and slowly takes in its contents. He picks up and fingers a miniature bottle of vodka, opens it and inhales the all too familiar essence. With each movement taking him a step closer to yielding into temptation, he seems to finally win the battle by screwing the cap on tight and placing the bottle on the closed table top and walking away. The optimists among us are all about to cheer but alas, in a brilliant twist he reaches out to grab the bottle. Even the cynics are a little sad.

Consequently, Flight is a story about addiction and what is sometimes required to end it – a big ass stage! For Whip he had coasted on a drug and alcoholic wave and would have coasted into the books as a hero but just at the last minute, just as he could have put the issue behind him forever, he spills his guts. What is remarkable is that he could have done it privately, in rehab or even at Nicole’s AA meeting where no one would have judged him. But at the risk of tarnishing a defenceless Katerina’s memory, he instead chose to spill at the one place where everyone was sure to hear. Ms. Block gave him two outs and he opted for the significantly more painful one, but one that would save him. He must have feared that if he missed this chance to repent, he would not have gotten another. Flight shows us that sorting ourselves out is most times a very painful process; we have to be willing to fight our very nature or the person that we have become. We can lie to everyone, gloss over our lives but in the end we cannot really lie to ourselves.

I liked Flight a lot. It was a good story where you do not know whether to root for Denzel Washington’s Whip or not. In the end you seat back and hope that the right thing is done. In the end, it is.

Film Review: The Last Flight To Abuja: May Day!

On Friday, August 3, 2012 when my friend Atoke buzzed me to invite me to the premiere of the Nollywood movie The Last Flight To Abuja holding at the Genesis Deluxe Cinemas I was a bit hesitant. You seeI am not a fan of Nigerian movies (there have been the odd few that I have really enjoyed.... Guilty Pleasures, Mortal Inheritance, Rattlesnake, Out of Bounds, Thunderbolt... to mention a few)...but since it was a chance to share a few laughs and hang out with a friend and see the movie at no real cost to me I decided to give it a go.

The pre-premiere opinion of the movie shared by quite a number of people was that the movie should not have been made and that it was rather insensitive of the makers of the film to “cash in” on the events of the fatal June 3 Dana Airways air crash. This impression was corrected by Mr. Alex Otti, MD/CEO of Diamond Bank the main sponsors of the movie at the premiere. The Last Flight To Abuja, written and directed by Obi Emelonye (The Mirror Boy), which was loosely based around the Bellview Airlines crash of 2006 had been in production for months and was scheduled for release when the Dana plane crashed -  a case of a very bad coincidence.

So I “crossed” my mind and decided to be as objective as possible as I watched the movie. And what can I say? Although it was a commendable attempt, The Last Flight To Abuja crashed both literally and figuratively! Now where do I begin? Armed with a good but cliché ridden and predictable plot and storyline, The Last Flight To Abuja would have been a good movie if it had had a good script and dialogue, any decent acting and passable video effects.

The dialogue was abysmal to say the least; the conversations were alternately stilted and rushed like they were in a race or something. And when did the word “some” become a definitive article? e.g. “Let’s watch some Titanic”, “You have some temperature”. This wrong usage was rife throughout the entire movie with no one finding it fit to correct it!

Wardrobe and realism as is with many of our Nollywood productions was questionable particularly the uniforms, couldn’t the producers get authentic pilot and police uniforms? What was with the plastic tape used to make the pilots’ stripes?  The pilot’s wife also did not have a wedding ring on as she spoke to him on the phone. Were tablets available for use in 2006? Just one air hostess/cabin crew member on a plane? Are we to believe that the airport’s control tower is just one room, closely resembling my BQ room at the university? And the CGI? Hmm, definitely not 2012 stuff, no scratch that, definitely not 2001 stuff!! And the realisation that a scene from another movie was used to depict the air crash scene!! Shame!

The acting? Ever present were the shifting accents and affectations that are more in line with stage performances. However, I did enjoy Hakeem Kae-Kazim’s acting as well as Jim Iyke’s (sorry o but for some funny reason I like his acting *big grin*). The pilots played by Anthony Monjaro and Celine Loader effectively portrayed the distress and panic that any pilot in their positions would feel. Everyone else? Average.

However, the movie was not all bad! I wholeheartedly welcomed and commended Obi Emelonye’s cinematography and use of non-linear sequencing in telling his story, reminiscent of Chris Nolan’s Memento (2000). It showed a certain amount of ambitiousness that I liked. However, the downside was that there were too many flashes between scenes alternating between Abuja and Lagos which was a bit disorienting. His attempt to tell a story from different points of view and perspectives of the characters where they all converge on the plane is also worthy of note. The sound and sound effects were not bad either and the score was very very good! I particularly liked the use of radio commentary featuring a few of our OAPs as background sound as it helped the scenes. There was plenty of comic relief especially by Hakeem Kae-Kazim and his wanna-be philanderer friend. So we had loads of good laughs.

In the end The Last Flight To Abuja is a good attempt but is still beset with the basic challenges to good film making in Nigeria – scripting, acting and realism. The movie might take off with you but I am not so sure of where it would land you. Enjoy!

NB: The Last Flight to Abuja is dedicated to the memories of those that lost their lives in the June 3, 2012 Dana Airways plane crash. Written and directed by Obi Emelonye, it stars Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Jim Iyke, Ali Nuhu, Uru Eke, Celine Loader, Anthony Manjaro and Jide Kosoko.

Film Review: The Dark Knight Rises: Did it really?

On Wednesday, July 25, 2012 I got an invite to the Genesis Deluxe Cinemas’ premiere of probably the year’s most anticipated movie, The Dark Knight Rises, the concluding installment of director and writer Chris Nolan’s three part Batman series. The hype and anticipation was unprecedented, probably only matched by movies like Terminator 2: Judgement Day and (perhaps the only other comic universe franchise to match DC) Marvel’s The Avengers. The latter had broken records to become the third highest grossing movie of all time in just about eight weeks, earning $260m in its opening weekend in April 2012. I was among the very few people who believed that The Dark Knight Rises would beat The Avenger’s record.

And why did I believe that it would? Simply because Chris Nolan is a FANTASTIC director and writer. Indeed, The Dark Knight smashed records when it was released in 2008. It earned more than a billion dollars worldwide upon its release in 2008. Many would attribute this to Heath Ledger’s epic portrayal of The Joker based on Nolan’s interpretation of Batman’s most villainous villain. Others (myself included) would attribute it to the psychological study that was The Dark Knight. Nolan took Batman from comic book icon to a study in humanity, the battle between good and evil, and the grey areas in between. 2011’s Inception was a case study in film making. Nolan brought bits of what made his sophomore film Momento (2000) to bear in the critically acclaimed Inception. So little wonder The Dark Knight Rises was billed to rise and rise and rise. But somewhere along its intended ascent the two hours plus movie lost its wind.

First and foremost The Dark Knight Rises seemed like a lazy effort. The editing was abysmal. The scripting and plot scenes were like a series of quickies that did not get to the climax. The holes in the plot and storyline were so gaping and the material just did not hold water. I was left to assume so many things: How come Blake could so very easily figure out that Batman was actually Bruce Wayne? How did Bane figure out Batman was Bruce Wayne? How come after eight loooooong years, the city was still mourning White Knight Harvey Dent? I thought Lucius Fox left at the end of The Dark Knight? If he did not, why did he change his mind? How did the 3,000 plus Gotham City policemen survive three months underground? How come Alfred left? No, seriously why did he abandon Bruce? Where was the prison dungeon located? How come Bane could come and go as he pleased? Thought it was supposed to be somewhere not mainland USA? Bane broke Batman’s back (I actually cheered at that scene because it stayed true to the comics!) But come on! One does not recover from a broken back in a prison dungeon overnight!!!! The time-wasting speech and by-force kiss at the climactic scene when time was running out was cringe worthy! A nuke is about to go off in two minutes and you still have time for catharsis and a smooch? Like seriously?!! At the very best the script was overly simplistic.

The acting was not any better really. Joseph Gordon-Levitt had a good performance as the incorruptible cop John Blake. So did Gary Oldman and Marion Cotillard. Michael Cain was poor to say the least while Morgan Freeman and Christian Bale both seemed bored. And Bane’s voice! I had to strain my ears and mostly got someone else to tell me what he said!! It is bad enough we have to strain to catch what Batman (Bale) says due to his hoarse lisp but Bane’s Darth Vader-like voice was just inaudible!! The final fight scene was bleh! I know Chris Bale is not the biggest person or known for his fighting skills, but it was stiff (maybe it was the suit)! Bats is a bad ass martial artist schooled in the shadow arts! Most of us were also hoping that Tom Hardy who played Bane would bring some of his “bad assness” from The Warrior to bear on The Dark Knight Rises but alas that was not seen. The fighting should have been better choreographed.

On the positives, I loved the Talia al Ghul twist! It made sense. But the lovey dovey between Bruce and Miranda Tate her alter ego was not convincing enough. The twist at the end – Blake donning the role of Batman, Bruce Wayne (still recognisable!) turning up alive in Paris with Selina – reminiscent of Inception was almost cheesy but very welcome. It gave the film its final and much needed airlift. I mean no one, no matter the speculations, wanted to see Batman killed. We are glad Nolan kept him alive. If he had not, I daresay The Dark Knight Rises would have been deemed a bad movie.

I would be the first to admit that I was looking forward to identifying themes in The Dark Knight Rises. I found a few.

Nolan by bringing thematic elements of Batman Begins together with those from The Dark Knight stresses that Bruce Wayne cannot exist without Batman simply because he is first Batman before he is Bruce Wayne!! This was an epiphany for me because it was comforting to realise what I had long suspected: that like Superman whose alter ego is Clark Kent, Batman’s alter ego is Bruce Wayne! His life is the cowl! Bruce Wayne’s deterioration in spirit and body after the Batman disappears is evidence of this. In furtherance of the Dark Knight mythos, Nolan again confirms that Batman’s first and only love is the city of Gotham. Batman exists because Gotham exists; when threatened Batman defends her. Simple.

Nolan to my mind explores the symbolism of a “people’s” revolution against their government and the elite in Bane’s uprising (think #occupy). However, I failed to get that sense of anarchy or break up when the status quo of the previous eight years was destroyed. Where were all the mad men? Where was Arkham? The only thing reminiscent of it was The Scarecrow acting as judge and executioner of the new government. Was it a reverse Tunisian revolution gone wrong?

In the end, The Dark Knight Rises successfully brings to an end the Batman trilogy. However, deep inside I got the general feeling that Nolan and his team just wanted to get this trilogy over and done with really.

NB: As of July 29, 2012  (i.e. in 10 days) The Dark Knight Rises has made $537m worldwide at the Box Office.