Denzel Washington: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

3. Whip Whitaker - Flight

Robert Zemeckis had gone a little off reservation. The formally dependable director who helmed all three Back To The Future films, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Forrest Gump had become mired in a technological malaise, forgoing interesting scripts in favour of travailing the uncanny valley with the dead-eyed motion-captured performances in damp squibs like The Polar Express, Beowulf and A Christmas Carol. Denzel, too, had not been having a great time of it, his collaborations with Tony Scott descending into increasingly stupid, tedious popcorn fare of the lowest common denominator. They found their redemption together, rather fittingly, in a film that has that as its central theme. Flight might be as bloated and unfocused as its protagonist, but Washington's performance excuses a multitude of sins. The first we see of airline pilot Whip Whitaker, he's reluctantly stirring in a hotel room after a night of sex, drinking, drug use, and very little sleep. Luckily he bumps a line of coke and is right as rain, all ready to fly from Orlando to Atlanta. It's a good thing he's awake, too, since the plane crashes and it's only thanks to his quick thinking that anybody survives. Except then there's an investigation into the tragedy, and all of Whitaker's substance abuse chickens come home to roost, and he tries to stay clean for the hearing...which proves to be harder than it sounds. Washington is absolutely phenomenal as a morally dubious, multi-faceted character who tests audience's sympathies to their limits, and still comes out swinging. Amazing stuff.