Flight

First Hit:  Exciting beginning with amazing scenes of the flight and crash.

This film uses a very taut elongated scene of a plane crash made both believable and unbelievable because the opening scene of pilot Whip Whitaker (played by Denzel Washington) finishing up a wild night of sex and drugs with his co-worker flight attendant Katerina (played by Nadine Velazquez) just before they get on the plane to fly it from Florida to Georgia.

A couple lines of coke, a couple mini bottles of vodka and he’s on his way. At take-off he scares his Christian co-pilot Ken (played by Brian Geraghty) by flying through a hug storm and when he gets to clear air he hands the plane over to him while falling asleep in a comical pose.

When the plane, all of a sudden, heads into a full dive, Whip wakes up and takes charge. Amazingly he figures out to keep the plane from diving straight into the ground by going inverted and just before they hit an open field he’s aimed for, he flips the plan upright and out of the 102 passengers and crew all but six make it.

The film's other story is about Nicole (played by Kelly Reilly), a long suffering drug using masseuse. She ends up in a hospital from OD’ing after shooting up some powerful heroin. She meets Whip when they are both in the hospital and there is a connection.

Here is where the film gets interesting because when they are both on the screen, it isn’t Whip I’m watching – it’s Nicole. There is an amazing strength and vulnerability Nicole shows which not only draws in Whip, it entices the audience. When both are fighting their inner demons about ready to do their drug of choice, it is Nicole that my heart wanted to help. Nicole choses to get sober and although she tries to assist Whip, he’s not ready.

When the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) investigates, they are suspicious about Whip and his being drunk. In the decision scene, the audience wonders will he save his ass or will he own the truth.

Washington is excellent as Whip, a very functional alcoholic and commercial pilot. The scenes where he’s in his uniform, walking down a hall with his sunglasses on says it all, I’m in control as long as you can’t really see me. Velazquez is good as his current squeeze and attendant who saves a young boy. Reilly, is superb and steals every scene she is in. Geraghty is great as a his Christian co-pilot. Bruce Greenwood is very good as Whip’s old pilot friend and head of the pilot’s union. John Goodman is oddly and interestingly cast as Whip’s old hippy like personal drug dealer. Don Cheadle is strong as Hugh Lang the Pilot’s Union lawyer. John Gatins wrote a great and interesting script. Robert Zemeckis directed this film in a very tight focused way.

Overall: This was a very good film and worth the ride of watching the highs and lows of a man’s life.

The Hurt Locker

First Hit: Wow! This film is extremely well directed and acted and effectively brings a powerful reflection of war to life on the big screen.

Having spent 19 months in the Vietnam War I have a little experience with what war is like. Each war is unique and in their own venue is full of its own distinct particular problems.

Hurt Locker is about Iraq and a specialized group of men, the elite Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit. This film focuses on one team of these specialized group of men whose job is to clear road mines, car bombs and other explosive traps and situations. Doing their job helps to protect the civilian and US soldier population in Baghdad from surprise bombings.

Staff Sergeant William James (played by Jeremy Renner) joins two others as their leader after the previous team leader lost his life attempting to defuse a roadside bomb. James is brash, brazen and appears to have little regard to the protocol of the job.

One of the things that keeps this film’s suspense right in the for front is that we’re always aware of how many days this unit has remaining in their current tour of duty. They are very close to going home and starting with day 38, tension begins to arrive with each new and increasingly dangerous mission.

While the team is cognizant of how close they are to leaving Iraq, James' level of disregard for the bombs he is diffusing enhances this tension.

However, as this film moves along, you begin to see James' driven madness to diffuse every bomb as a genuine obsessed respect and addiction for his job because he prides himself in his ability to figure out how to beat the bombers' intentions and bomb making skills.

Kathryn Bigelow directs this film superbly. From the moment the celluloid hits the white screen, you drop into this film. There is no escaping it and most of the time it feels as though you are watching a polished documentary. It feels real. Mark Boal was the writer and must be given kudos for creating a script that reflects so many different aspects and feelings about war through the three main characters. Jeremy Renner as James, Anthony Mackie as Sanborn and Brian Geraghty as Eldridge are outstanding as soldiers’ representing different realistic feelings soldiers can find themselves embodying.

Overall: I cannot say enough about this film in the way it left everyone in the theater, slightly stunned, educated, and more aware about the real casualties of war.