Denzel Washington plays Whip Whitaker, an experienced, very trusted airline captain who has a drinking problem (to put it mildly). The night before a flight, Whip partakes in excessive amounts of booze and some recreational cocaine with co-worker/stewardess, Katerina (Nadine Velazquez), and on the flight, he dumps a couple airplane bottles of vodka into his orange juice. Later, due to aircraft malfunctions, the plane begins crashing downward, on a collision course that'd surely kill all of the passengers if not for Whip's impeccable flyboy skills. Beginning at 30,000 feet, Whip inverts the plane in order to slow down its trajectory and allow for him to (somewhat) safely land it. In the end, only six people die. Media outlets hail him as a genuine American hero, but Whip shirks the limelight during an ongoing NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) investigation into the cause of the accident (especially after it's learned that Whip had alcohol in his blood system) Directed by Robert Zemeckis, Flight is about the long spiral that comes between the period when a person begins imbibing too much and when he acknowledges that he no longer has control and needs help. Flight isn't about addiction and recovery. It's about addiction, period. It shows how an otherwise decent person will do terrible things to get a drink. It illustrates the power of compulsion. And it displays the collateral damage that results from an alcoholic spiral. A truly compelling story about the curse of addiction. What other films would you like to add to the list? Let us know in the comment section below.
Jesse Gumbarge is editor and chief blogger at JarvisCity.com - He loves old-school horror films and starting pointless debates. You can reach out at: JesseGumbarge@JarvisCity.com
