BEFORE: Linking from "2 Guns", Denzel Washington carries over, and I've got 50 films to go in 2014.
THE PLOT: An airline pilot saves almost all his passengers on his malfunctioning airliner which eventually crashed, but an investigation into the accident reveals something troubling.
AFTER: I'm not really spoiling anything by pointing out there's a plane crash in this film, because the film is really about what happened before and after the crash. Afterwards there are toxicology reports, investigations, legal strategies, accusations and eventually revelations.
For a while there in the news you'd often see stories about airline pilots spotted drinking in airport lounges before their flights - but not lately. I wonder if this film set a few people straight, or if pilots just got better at hiding their substance abuse.
This is a great example of a message film, but before it gets to a positive message, it sends out a number of confusing ones. For example, the main character drinks to excess before and during his flight, but then performs a move that saves many lives. Are we to assume that he might not have performed this maneuver if he were sober? The NTSB later puts 10 (presumably sober) pilots into simulators programmed with the same parameters, and they all crash. So, is a drunk pilot a good thing or a bad thing? How can it be a good thing in one specific situation, but bad overall?
The airline and its legal representative are then put into a situation where it benefits them to kill the tox report, or have it ruled inadmissible. So, telling the truth is a good thing, unless it's to your company's benefit to lie? Another odd message. Same goes for the pilot, who's coached to say "I can't recall" whenever the topic of his drinking comes up during the inquiry.
Then we've got the actions of the main character - when he goes to hide out from the press at his father's farm, the first thing he does is dump out all the alcohol in the house. So, it seems like he's got a handle on his drinking, removing all temptation to drink is the smart move, but then he puts himself into situations where he does drink. I guess this felt like a disjointed contradiction at first, but upon furthere reflection, this is an accurate depiction of what alcoholics must go through - they can take actions to get through today without a drink, but then tomorrow is another battle.
The problem with A.A. and other treatment programs for many people is the submission to a "higher power". And it's not just about admitting that they are powerless to control their addiction, it's about putting their lives in the hands of God, or karma, or fate. And the two issues with this are - 1) it doesn't encourage people to find the power within themselves and 2) what if someone doesn't believe in God? I think there's a work-around where you can declare your "higher power" is a tree or something, which fulfills the A.A. requirement, but then you have to do whatever the tree tells you.
They say an addict has to reach rock bottom before he can get better, and in a way that fits with the "always darkest before the dawn" scenarios that a lot of films show before their resolutions. But there's really only one way to resolve this film, so why does it take so long to get there?
Also starring Bruce Greenwood (last seen in "Star Trek Into Darkness"), Don Cheadle (last seen in "Reign Over Me"), John Goodman (last seen in "The Hangover Part III"), Kelly Reilly, Tamara Tunie (last seen in "Snake Eyes"), Nadine Velazquez, Brian Geraghty, Melissa Leo (last seen in "Oblivion"), Peter Gerety (last seen in "Hollywood Ending").
RATING: 5 out of 10 minibar bottles
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