"Flight" is a film that brought Denzel Washington an Oscar nomination...something his performance richly deserved. It's a terrific performance in a terrific, yet harrowing, film.

Whip Whitaker (Washington) is an absolute mess. Although he's an airline pilot, he's an addict and boards a plane under the influence of cocaine and alcohol. He's so badly impaired that during the flight, he managed to sneak MORE alcohol into his body! Now here's the amazing part....the plane literally begins to fall apart in midair and through VERY quick thinking, he manages to crash land the plane with only minimal loss of life. When Whip awakens at the hospital, he soon learns that the press is declaring that he's a hero! This film is about his actions and the airline's and the pilot union's following the crash.

The scene where the plane begins to fall apart and crashes is about the most harrowing and adrenaline-pumping scenes you'll ever see in a film. I could actually feel my chest pounding and STRONGLY recommend anyone with a fear of flying to avoid this film!!! It's well done...and it's shocking no Oscar nominations were given to the folks who created this scene!

I appreciate Denzel Washington in this film. Not only is he very good, but he really took a risk here playing such a screwed up and self-destructive guy. This was clearly a stretch for him...and it's nice to see him do something different.

Overall, this is a really amazing film...not just because of the crash but also because it really shows addiction in all its ugliness and with great realism. Among the best of 2012...though oddly apart from Washington and one minor award, the film wasn't nominated for Best Picture nor Best Director.

Denzel Washington's portrayal of a very flawed hero pilot which got him an Academy Award nomination in 2012 dominates the film Flight. All of his loved ones and all of his friends won't be able to help him with the jackpot he has himself in.

Denzel is an airline pilot who on a routine Flight from Tampa Bay to Atlanta encounters turbulence in the air and mechanical failure. He does a heroic job in bringing the plane in at all. Everyone agrees that most other pilots would have crashed with all on board dead. When he crash lands in a field only six fatalities occur. There are several injured however including our hero pilot.

But when he comes to in the hospital his toxic readings show traces of alcohol and cocaine. As we see later in the film he gets himself drunk and has developed a patented way of sobering up with a cocaine stimulant. Talk about living on the edge.

The whole airline industry from the pilots union to the airline to the FAA don't know what to do. Washington is a hero for what he did, but that addiction can't be hid. And he persists in his bad behavior.

This is one of the more complex portrayals of a character I've ever seen Washington do. In The Hurricane he's a hero who's been terribly unjustly wronged. In Training Day he gradually is revealed to be evil and corrupt. But here you don't know what to think. No doubt he's a hero, but he's also selfish and indulgent and can't even keep himself straight enough to get through a hearing on the crash. His own lawyer Don Cheadle is at his wit's end.

Melissa Leo has an interesting part as the hearing officer at the FAA, she's got a grain of toughness, but even she would like to give him the benefit of the doubt. But besides Washington, the one you will remember is John Goodman who has two memorable scenes as his drug connection for his cocaine cure.

The film Flight is a good one. But Denzel Washington might have picked up a third Oscar but for Daniel Day Lewis's Lincoln. He got more out of his role than most actors would have.

This starts off with an exciting first 30 minutes. It's like the climax of an action movie. Then they slow it way down as we discover that captain Whip Whitaker (Denzel Washington) is actually an incredible drunk.

The change in pace is pretty jarring. And Denzel is not that likable in this movie. The good news is that the movie does get to an emotional climax. Denzel's acting is its usual first rate. The action at the beginning is really exciting, and the ending is satisfying. The middle is where they needed to pick up the tension. That was always going to be difficult with such an exciting start.