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Hank Scorpio · 21-01-2013 07:22AM #1

Can't find a thread on this.

Enjoyed it immensly, Denzel puts in a very powerful performance.

I think there's alot of things in this movie people can relate to.

Apoligies if there's another thread on this but nothing showed up in the search function.

Just wondering how other people found it, the best movie I've seen for a while

niallon · 21-01-2013 08:20AM

Thought this was fantastic, could have easily tripped over itself and been overly blunt but I thought it handled the subject matter quite well.

I will complain that it is slightly over long though, some trimming to bring it down to maybe 1hr 50 would have helped. Great to see Washington and Zemeckis both back making real movies though, particularly Zemeckis.

2smiggy · 21-01-2013 11:51AM

Really enjoyed this film, I knew nothing about it except Denzil Washington was in it.

I agree is might be a tad long and drawn out in parts, but fine acting all round and handles the whole

drinking issues

really well.

Sort of a really dark comedy at times , 8.5/10 for me

GrumPy · 21-01-2013 11:52AM

Loved it, watched it three times over the Christmas. :pac:

kraggy · 21-01-2013 12:41PM

Extremely unrealistic in parts but very entertaining nonetheless. Very easy to watch and good acting by all.

Outkast_IRE · 21-01-2013 12:44PM

Very strong acting , the scenes on the plane were amazing.

However the only thing which is actually unavoidable, is that the best scene of the film is at the start, everything after is good but not quite as entertaining i suppose.

Still some great scenes by denzel, anyone see him on graham norton the other night ? he seemed quite reserved.

youcancallmeal · 21-01-2013 12:46PM

Yeah great film.

I don't why but I didn't get that the film is essentially about coming to terms with and dealing with alcohol/drug addiction until the very end! Maybe I'm just slow but I was starting to get bored and then it all clicked when he admitted at the hearing to being drunk.

saintsaltynuts · 21-01-2013 12:48PM

Thought it was very good.Denzel was great in it.****/5.

Please Kill Me · 21-01-2013 12:49PM

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Still some great scenes by denzel, anyone see him on graham norton the other night ? he seemed quite reserved.

Yeah, seen that. He was very good and quite funny at times. I thought he'd be a dick. I was pleasantly surprised.

connollys · 21-01-2013 03:52PM

Thought this was poor, overly sentimental and unrealistic.

fluke · 21-01-2013 05:18PM

I thought it was pretty good but because of it's sentimental direction the film wasn't allowed to go down an interesting route :

that maybe he was able to save so many lives because of the drink and coke

Hank Scorpio · 21-01-2013 07:45PM

The only things that bugged me abit were

John Goodmans Character seemed more suited to a movie like snatch or something, and it would have been to see more background as to what happened leaving up to his divorce. The scene when he tryed to hug his son was pretty moving though

adox · 21-01-2013 07:58PM

I really enjoyed it. I find Washington immensely watchable on screen and this is one of his strongest performance in a long time. He play ped "drunk" brilliantly.

red dave · 22-01-2013 04:02PM

I was a bit disappointed by this one. I think it had the contents of 4 good films contained in what turned out to be a mish mash of all.

1 -

Plane crash and saviour movie (action adventure)

2 -

Rehab movie (powerful drama)

3 -

Plane crash and kick ass lawyer getting justice in a tense legal battle (small guys against big corporation drama)

4 -

John Goodman the drug dealer (comedy)

This one I'd like to see the most

johnny_ultimate · 22-01-2013 06:34PM

**** the ending to this film. I thought it was a familiar story presented in a relatively offbeat fashion for most of the running time. But the ending - where they really should have pushed for a darker, less revelatory ending - left a sour note. How much more interesting would it have been if

he hadn't decided to tell the truth, and was ultimately left to be consumed by his addiction and guilt? As is, it felt like a Hollywood cheat of the cheapest sort, and would have pushed the film into really interesting thematic territory if it had of been braver. It is a modern Robert Zemeckis film, so I guess fool on me for expecting something different. But sometimes a feelbad ending is exactly what is needed to push a film into much worthier territory.

Other than that, it was a mixed bag but worth a watch. The

crash sequence

is wonderfully presented IMO - tense and desperate. Washington did a good job with his oftentimes unlikeable character. Managed a nice mix between dark humour and drama - although Goodman's character was probably too wacky. Several elements of the story we've seen done before, but it was all handled competently up until the lousy conclusion. One thing that did grate were the on-the-nose music cues throughout - just because you can afford a lot of recongisable pop songs doesn't mean you should use them.

roanoke · 22-01-2013 06:54PM

I still can't decide whether I like it or not. I always get this vibe with Denzel Washington that his whole m/o is "hey! watch me! I'm acting here!" rather than trying to put in a more subtle convincing performance.

That said tho the whole opening section was very exhilarating and exciting. I loved the cramped authentic look they gave to the cockpit almost wanted the whole movie to take place there.

Worth noting that the movie seemed very disjointed (especially to someone seeing it cold like myself). I didn't know anything going in and quickly thought this might be some sort of special effects tour-de-force disaster movie by Zemeckis. That eventually turn out not to be the case.

I was still puzzled during the hospital section and during the "cigarette in the stairwell" scene I now actually thought was going to be some sort of "sixth sense - you're communicating with dead people Denzel!" story. I honestly didn't even know this movie was meant to just be a straight-forward "the issues of an alcoholic" story probably until about the time Don Cheadle appears.

I don't know if anyone else got this vibe off it. Probably not.

cassid · 23-01-2013 01:30AM

Not sure about this one.

The first scene bugged me the female walking up and down (am a female, can you tell ) I just could not see the relevance of it or what it added to the story. I don't have an issue with nudity, but she was annoying me walking up and down, bending over etc etc ended up missed the conversation on the phone as it was bugging me.

the crash scenes are good.

2smiggy · 23-01-2013 10:36AM

cassid wrote: »

Not sure about this one.
The first scene bugged me the female walking up and down (am a female, can you tell ) I just could not see the relevance of it or what it added to the story. I don't have an issue with nudity, but she was annoying me walking up and down, bending over etc etc ended up missed the conversation on the phone as it was bugging me.

the crash scenes are good.

I too was not taking much notice to what was said in the phone conversation :pac::pac:

Birneybau · 31-01-2013 04:21PM

I'm a dude and really like hot, naked women

but even I thought the first scene was ridiculously gratuitous.

Anyway, the rest of the film. The word that came to mind most often was

Corny. Corny, Corny, Corny!

I just cannot believe that it has been nominated for best screenplay at the Oscars.

As for John Goodman,

drug terminology as written by Mormons.

"See you on the Dark side of the Moon".

Indeed.

Sad Professor · 01-02-2013 01:20PM

A well directed, better than average Denzel movie, but the ending doesn't work. Zemeckis should have a taken a page out of his own book and left things on a more open ended Cast Away-type note. Less is more, no need to tie things up a bow.

Dermighty · 01-02-2013 02:52PM

The best performance I've seen from denzel, I felt he was overrated in many of his films, this was a good movie.

Frank Black · 01-02-2013 03:00PM

All the good scenes are in the opening 30mins,

the plane crash

,

the naked lady

,

Denzil taking loads of coke

.

After that it settles down to a

standard Hollywood addition movie borefest

.

theparish · 01-02-2013 05:06PM

Hard to believe a certain blood report can just disappear,blaming faulty equipment in this day and age and that co pilot and air hostess would remain quiet had Denzel not let the cat out of bag

repsol · 02-02-2013 12:47AM

Just seen it in the cinema.Loved it! If you want realism watch a documentary. Its for entertainment.

delbertgrady · 04-02-2013 10:01AM

The opening scene with the aforementioned gratuitous nudity is almost laughably bad. I can't believe Nadine Velazquez agreed to it, 'cos it's hardly essential to the scene, or her character.

Kelly Reilly is probably the healthiest-looking drug addict I've ever seen on screen, John Goodman is like a bad, "jolly drug dealer" persona as written by a first-timer, but the single most irritating thing about the entire film was the "Classic Hits, Robert Zemeckis FM" soundtrack, which hits you with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Gimme Shelter, Sympathy for the Devil, Ain't No Sunshine, What's Going On and - worst of all - Under the Bridge underscoring Kelly's druggie lifestyle. Again, more like a first time director, filling their movie (budget permitting) with their favourite songs. It's not Forrest Gump, Bob. A few more sublime choices would have worked a hell of a lot better.

Yet despite all this, I actually thought it was grand overall. I can only attribute this to Denzel's performance, and I can see why he got an Oscar nomination, 'cos the Academy love that whole "tortured soul" routine, but - like many an Oscar nod that rewarded a decent performance in a mediocre film - the film itself is certainly flawed.

Linguo · 04-02-2013 06:06PM

We went to see this at weekend, both enjoyed it, the first 30 mins were great and Denzel was very good as always although comparing him to Daniel Day Lewis he doesn't really stand a chance at the Oscars.

Only thing we didn't really dig was the very slight glorification given to his drug and alcohol addiction. I mean John Goodman makes drug dealing look like the coolest thing going and loads of the audience were laughing at Denzel when he was getting drunk which seemed a bit strange as we didn't feel it was quite that type of movie.

Overall great watch though!

roanoke · 04-02-2013 06:20PM

The nude scene was weird in itself but I found it even stranger given Robert Zemeckis was the director. I would have thought he was one of those "name" directors who didn't feel the need to pander to the producers/audience with T&A. Unless he was making some sociological or artist 'point' with it that I just didn't get.

Sad Professor · 04-02-2013 06:47PM

roanoke wrote: »

The nude scene was weird in itself but I found it even stranger given Robert Zemeckis was the director. I would have thought he was one of those "name" directors who didn't feel the need to pander to the producers/audience with T&A. Unless he was making some sociological or artist 'point' with it that I just didn't get.

It's HBO syndrome. Something isn't really adult unless it has gratuitous sex and nudity. I'd put it down to the kiddisation of Hollywood films in recent years causing adults to tune out.

repsol · 04-02-2013 09:30PM

Lot of prudes on this thread. That girl has an amazing body and that bedroom scene was supposed to show the aftermath of a coke,drink and sex all nighter between her and Whip. A girl like that is hardly going to get all shy and put on a bath robe is she? If you don't want to see nudity and sex you should watch a film that IS NOT about an alcoholic,coke taking divorcee in a job that involves frequent stays in hotels with fit young females maybe Downton Abbey would be more your cup of tea.Maybe you just like having something to moan about.

Corholio · 04-02-2013 09:47PM

repsol wrote: »

Lot of prudes on this thread. That girl has an amazing body and that bedroom scene was supposed to show the aftermath of a coke,drink and sex all nighter between her and Whip. A girl like that is hardly going to get all shy and put on a bath robe is she? If you don't want to see nudity and sex you should watch a film that IS NOT about an alcoholic,coke taking divorcee in a job that involves frequent stays in hotels with fit young females maybe Downton Abbey would be more your cup of tea.Maybe you just like having something to moan about.

People aren't complaining about the nudity in itself, it's the context it was in. Nobody's being prude at all. Sounds like yours was just trying to be a 'look I've seen boobies before' kind of post. Also what has the fact she has an amazing body got to do with it??

Brendan Filone · 04-02-2013 10:01PM

Denzel carried the movie. There was a collective moan from the audience when

he grabbed that vodka bottle off the mini fridge!

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