Flight (2012); drama film review

Poster artwork for the drama film Flight.

Admitting Addiction by Linh

Director Robert Zemeckis directed a 1999 documentary called Robert Zemeckis on Smoking, Drinking and Drugging in the 20th Century, and his latest drama Flight, depicts issues associated with these as “addictions”, such as the lead character in the film has an alcohol addiction and uses drugs to remain alert. Zemeckis also includes underlying religious elements to the film’s narrative that involves questions of faith and self-belief in combatting various addictions such as alcoholism and drugs.

DITCHING DRUGS: Whip (Denzel Washington) and Nicole attempt to kick their drug/alcohol addiction together at his farm house in the film Flight. Image: Paramount Pictures.

Flight opens with Nicole (Kelly Reilly), a freelance photographer struggling to pay her rent and craving drugs. Nicole visits a drug dealer to get some cocaine and then she accidentally overdoses after injecting herself with drugs. Meanwhile, William ‘Whip’ Whitaker (Denzel Washington), a seasoned airline pilot, is in a hotel room with a work colleague Katerina (Nadine Velazquez) after a long night of drinking and love-making. He snorts cocaine, which he gets from his friend Harling Mays (John Goodman), to wake himself up before heading off to work. Whip appears very alert and attentive in the cockpit alongside his co-pilot Ken (Brian Geraghty), and is feeling upbeat about the flight. Soon after take-off, the plane experiences turbulence as they fly through a storm and Whip takes the plane safely away from the heavy storm clouds.

Everything on the flight seems to be going well with only 45 minutes until the plane lands, so Whip sneakily pours a few bottles of vodka into his orange juice and takes a nap in his seat.  Ken suddenly wakes up Whip as the plane experiences major mechanical malfunctions causing the plane to spiral downwards with the pilots losing control of the plane. Whip uses unconventional and heart-stopping methods to get the plane to land safely on a patch of land near a church, by flying the plane upside down without its engines. The plane’s wing smashes the steeple off the church before landing, and only six of the 102 people onboard died.

FATAL FLIGHT: Katerina (Nadine Velazquez) and Margaret (Tamara Tunie) strap themselves tight for a deadly dive in the film Flight. Image: Paramount Pictures.

Whip is hailed a hero for saving so many lives but the second part of the film is the most dramatic and intriguing as an investigation is launched to seek answers on what really happened on the plane. Whip’s friend and airline union representative Charlie (Bruce Greenwood) teams up with lawyer Hugh Lang (Don Cheadle) to ensure Whip gets cleared of any charges, accusations and allegations. Hugh even manages to render Whip’s toxicology report as inadmissible on technical grounds. The majority of the film depicts Whip’s internal struggle in dealing with his alcoholism and how his choice to deny he has an addiction leads to the breakdown of his marriage, his dependency on cocaine, and the dangerous effects alcohol/drugs have on his performance at work.

CONSTANT CRAVING: Whip (Denzel Washington) seeks out his friend Harling (John Goodman) for drugs while in hospital in the film Flight. Image: Paramount Pictures.

Denzel Washington’s performance as the alcoholic pilot Whip Whitaker has deservedly earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Lead Actor. Washington does plenty to evoke sympathy from the audience while not portraying Whip as the villain but as a regular man who is a skilled pilot with a hidden addiction. 

The film's supporting cast members are wonderful with John Goodman as the always perky and chirpy drug supplier Harling; Don Cheadle as lawyer Hugh Lang who is eager to win and work for Whip because he admires Whip’s valour; Kelly Reilly is gorgeous as Nicole who shows Whip that it is possible to overcome his addiction like she did; Brian Geraghty is great as the nervous co-pilot Ken who believes the plane crash was an “act of God” and the many lives saved from the crash was also part of “God’s plan”; Melissa Leo appears briefly near the end but she is outstanding as Ellen Block who questions Whip at the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) Hearing about the crash.

LEGAL LOOPHOLES: Pilot union representative Charlie (Bruce Greenwood) and lawyer Hugh Lang (Don Cheadle) consider ways to avoid prison for Whip (Denzel Washington) in the film Flight. Image: Paramount Pictures.

Flight is a human drama of how a person’s choices can affect so many others, and being with another person who has a similar condition can help to shine light on a problem that is ignored or too painful to face by oneself. This film has reportedly been criticised for lacking realism by allowing a substance abuse pilot to continue flying a plane and depicting a pilot successfully flying a plane and saving lives while on drugs and alcohol. However, the religious element of the story was also criticised due to attempts to make the plot plausible by giving the pilot some God-given talent and instinct that enabled him to safely land the plane despite his substance abuse problem. Flight is an exciting ride in the first twenty minutes then turns into a riveting ride as investigations into the plane crash and Whip’s apparent emotional-numbness due to drugs and alcoholism raises more questions than answers.

MEDIA MATTERS: Whip (Denzel Washington) tries carefully to stonewall all the media's questions about the crash investigation in the film Flight. Image: Paramount Pictures.

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Writer: John Gatins (screenplay)

Cast: Denzel Washington, Kelly Reilly, Don Cheadle, Bruce Greenwood, Tamara Tunie, Brian Geraghty, John Goodman, Timothy Adams, Darius Woods, Dylan Kussman, Adam Tomei, Conor O’Neill, Ravi Kapoor, Nadine Velazquez, Garcelle Beauvais, Hal Williams (voice), Ron Caldwell, James Badge Dale, Ric Reitz, Dane Davenport, Charlie E. Schmidt, Boni Yanagisawa, Justin Martin,Tommy Kane, Jason Benjamin, Piers Morgan, Jim Tilmon

Producers: Cherylanne Martin, Robert Zemeckis, Laurie MacDonald, Steve Starkey, Walter F. Parkes, Jack Rapke, Heather Kelton

Original Music Composer: Alan Silverstri

Cinematographer: Don Burgess (Director of Photography)

Film Editor: Jeremiah O’Driscoll

Production: Nelson Coates (Production Designer), David Lazan (Art Director), James Edward Ferrell Jr. (Set Decorator)

Costume Designer: Louise Frogley

Running Time: 2 hours and 20 minutes

3D ParaNorman (2012); stop-motion animated comedy family film review

Poster artwork for the stop-motion animated comedy family film ParaNorman.

Frightful Fun by Linh

Director/writer Chris Butler has wanted to make an animated zombie feature film for over a decade and his directorial debut, alongside director Sam Fell, is a beautifully filmed stop-motion animated family film called ParaNorman with ghosts, witches and zombies. The film uses hand-crafted, hand-stitched and tangible doll figures and hand-made sets that are filmed in 3D. Some of the stores and businesses in the film are named after members of the crew, with the film referencing other horror films such as Friday The 13th, Night Of The Living Dead, The Sixth Sense, and the moving zombie hand from The Evil Dead.

GRANDMA'S GHOST: Norman (Kodi Smit-McPhee) sees his dead Grandma's (Elaine Stritch) ghost every day in the film ParaNorman. Image: Universal Pictures, Focus Features.

ParaNorman is about a teenage boy named Norman Babcock (Kodi Smit-McPhee) who lives in Blithe Hollow with his parents and older sister Courtney (Anna Kendrick). Norman can see and speak with ghosts but everyone including his sister, tease him about it, and he is bullied at school by other students, particularly the school bully named Alvin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). His only friend is another student named Neil (Tucker Albrizzi) who is bullied for being fat. Norman can see his dead Grandma’s (Elaine Stritch) ghost who appears in his home every day, and he often confides in her and watches horror films with her. One day after school, as Norman is walking home with Neil, an old and unkempt bearded man who claims to be Norman’s Uncle Prenderghast (John Goodman), pulls Norman aside to warn him that a centuries-old witch’s curse that will raise the dead, is about to come true. Norman and Neil wonder about the curse and soon after, Uncle Prenderghast dies of a sudden heart attack. 

WITCH WARNING: Uncle Prenderghast (John Goodman) makes sure Norman (Kodi Smit-McPhee) knows about the witch's curse in the film ParaNorman. Image: Universal Pictures, Focus Features.

Uncle Prenderghast’s ghost appears to Norman and makes him promise to stop the witch’s curse. Norman follows Uncle Prenderghast’s instructions but they fail to work and seven zombies that are three hundred years old, rise from the dead. The townspeople of Blithe Hollow take up arms to fight the zombies but the seven un-dead do not fight and they hide instead. Norman soon discovers it is not the zombies he needs to stop. Norman must stop the witch Aggie (Jodelle Ferland), who has returned to wreak havoc as a form of revenge against the seven zombies who wronged her three hundred years ago. Norman and his sister Courtney, his friend Neil, Neil’s older brother Mitch (Casey Affleck) and the bully Alvin work together to stop the witch’s curse.

BEATING BULLYING: Alvin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) stops bullying Norman (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and helps him fight the witch's curse in the film ParaNorman. Image: Universal Pictures, Focus Features.

ParaNorman has many universal themes of friendship, courage and compassion that resonate with children and adults. The issues in the film include bullying, acceptance of your own and other people’s differences, and not to let fear change you or your perceptions of others. The film has emotional depth in dealing with being mentally/emotionally affected through fear expressed by others; as well as fear being instilled in you that others are dangerous. The violence towards the zombies by the townspeople is a depiction of fear and anger, where there is no attempt being made to understand and accept each other. Norman attempts to reach out to the witch Aggie through conversation and discovers she is just like him - a child who feels like an outcast because others are afraid of her differences. Aggie’s reaction is to make them feel the way they make her feel, thereby making her just as hateful of them as they are of her. The difference between Norman and Aggie is that he succeeded in breaking the cycle of bullying and fear by accepting his differences and being friends with the bully. ParaNorman is a thought-provoking and entertaining family film with a talented voice cast, excellent 3D stop-motion animation and inoffensive humour.

SCARY SCREAMS: Courtney (Anna Kendrick), Norman (Kodi Smit-McPhee), Alvin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), Neil (Tucker Albrizzi) and Mitch (Casey Affleck) encounter zombies moving towards their car in the film ParaNorman. Image: Universal Pictures, Focus Features.

Directors: Chris Butler, Sam Fel

Writer: Chris Butler (story)

Voice Cast: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tucker Albrizzi, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Casey Affleck, John Goodman, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, Elaine Stritch, Ariel Winter, Jodelle Ferland, Bernard Hill, Tempestt Bledsoe, Alex Borstein,Hannah Noye

Producers: Arianne Sutner, Travis Knight, Matthew Fried, Carl Beyer

Original Music Composer: John Brion

Cinematographer: Tristan Oliver (Director of Photography)

Film Editor: Christopher Murrie

Production: Nelson Lowry (Production Designer), Francesca Berlingieri Maxwell, Phil Brotherton (Art Directors)

Costume Designers: Deborah Cook

  

Running Time: 1 hour and 35 minutes

The Artist (2011); silent black and white drama comedy film review

Promotional poster for the silent black and white drama comedy film The Artist.

Scintillating Silence by Linh

French director, screenwriter and producer Michel Hazanavicius’s film The Artist is a visual and technical homage to the silent film era with references to silent film acting, Hollywood celebrity fanaticism, and other technical aspects of silent film-making before talkies arrived. The Artist won a swag of film awards before being nominated for ten Academy Awards, following three wins at the 2012 Golden Globe Awards.

The Artist is a black and white silent film that covers the years 1927 to 1932, and focusses on a popular and famous Hollywood silent film star whose career ends when audio technology for talkies (talking movies) arrive, which reflects the real life problems actors faced in having their voices heard by the cinema audiences at the time.

SILENT SUSPICIONS: Doris (Penelope Ann Miller) is unimpressed with her husband George kissing and flirting with other women in the film The Artist. Image: The Weinstein Company.

In 1927, George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is the biggest Hollywood star whose films are similar to those of silent film star Douglas Fairbanks and whose charm and charisma in public has earned him many fans. George has a dog named Jack, who appears in some of his films and is his close companion at work and at home. During one of George’s publicity appearances for his latest silent film A Russian Affair, an aspiring actress named Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo) accidentally comes into shot for one of his photo opportunities. George graciously allows her to share the spotlight with him and this infuriates the movie studio boss Al Zimmer (John Goodman) when the press concentrates on George’s ‘mystery woman’ instead of the film. When Peppy auditions for one of George’s upcoming films as an extra, he insists she be cast in his film A German Affair, after witnessing her talent and potential. 

After the success of this film, Al meets with George and urges him to stop performing in silent films and join him in utilising the latest advancement in film called talkies, which enables actors to be audible to audiences. George refuses to star in talkies, claiming that he is an artist who does not need technology to act, and he quits. As he leaves the studio, George meets Peppy ascending the stairs, who excitedly tells him she has signed on with the studio to star in their upcoming films. From this point, it becomes apparent that Peppy is a star on the rise while George’s career is coming to an end. This staircase scene is pivotal and foreshadows what is to come in the film; the decline of George’s career as he is seen descending the stairs, while Peppy’s climb up the stairs indicates her rise to stardom.

ASPIRING ACTOR: Peppy (Bérénice Bejo) attempts to impress a stranger (Malcolm McDowell) at her audition in the film The Artist. Image: The Weinstein Company.

The Artist is aesthetically authentic in its attempt to capture the beauty of silent films technically and visually. Director Hazanavicius has diligently researched the various techniques used in silent films to give a truthful and accurate portrayal of film-making and screen-acting of the silent film era during the late 1920s and early 1930s in Hollywood. The music used to accompany the film’s action is well chosen, despite actor Kim Novak’s *claims that The Artist has misappropriated the music score from Alfred Hitchcock’s film Vertigo, in which she starred. Hazanavicius dismissed Novak’s allegations and claimed he was “inspired by Hitchcock's work” (BBC news 2012).

SUPERSTAR STATUS: Peppy (Bérénice Bejo) has achieved her dream of Hollywood stardom but feels it has come at the expense of George Valentin's career in the film The Artist. Image: The Weinstein Company.

The leading actors are French with a superb supporting cast that includes American and British actors. Jean Dujardin is brilliant as the silent film actor George Valentin whose star power fades when silent films wane as talkies become popular. George is seen as proud and resistant to change so his refusal to embrace the inevitable in the rise of talkies has resulted in his downfall. George’s real reason behind his fear does not concern the technology itself, but the quality of his voice and how its foreign-ness may sound to American audiences.Dujardin won numerous awards for The Artist including an Academy Award for Best Leading Actor, a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy and an International AACTA (Australian Academy of Cinema Television Arts) award for Best Actor.

MOVIE MAKER: Al Zimmer (John Goodman) not only makes movies but ensures that the movie industry keeps evolving and improving in the film The Artist. Image: The Weinstein Company.

Hazanavicius’s wife Bérénice Bejo took five months of tap dancing classes, and to acquire the “American actress persona” she watched film clips of Joan Crawford to emulate her **flapper style and Marlene Dietrich (despite being German-born) for her winking and air-kisses. Bejo gives an excellent portrayal of the gorgeous fresh-faced and starry-eyed ingénue Peppy Miller. The beautiful Argentine-French actor epitomised the excitement and adventurous nature of her character Peppy, the type of personality that reflects the way talkies were affecting the film industry at the time. It is in contrast to George’s attitude and fear of talkies as he clings to his old style of film-making when he writes, produces, directs and stars in his self-funded silent film called Tears of Love which flopped against Peppy’s talkie film The Beauty Spot. 

Peppy represented the latest stage in film-making’s evolution while George’s resistance to talkies sees him stuck in the past and left behind. Bejo has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and also in the same category for a Screen Actors Guild Award. She received a Best Leading Actress nomination for a BAFTA award. 

TALENTED TWOSOME: George (Jean Dujardin) joins Peppy (Bérénice Bejo) in a dance sequence in the film The Artist. Image: The Weinstein Company.

Notable performances come courtesy of John Goodman who is fantastic as the studio boss Al Zimmer, whose eagerness to embrace talkies is not only about making profits but to help evolve and grow the film industry; James Cromwell is charming and affable as George’s faithful personal assistant named Clifton who still cares about George even after he fires him; Uggie the Jack Russell Terrier as Jack is a crowd-pleaser and scene-stealer and Penelope Ann Miller is engaging as George’s long-suffering wife Doris, who suspects he is having affairs, feels neglected and lonely, especially as George always brings his work home and never stops “acting”.

COURAGEOUS CANINE: Jack the dog (Uggie) plays the hero as Peppy (Bérénice Bejo) watches on in the film The Artist. Image: The Weinstein Company.

The Artist is a sublime cinematic experience with fantastic performances from the ensemble cast, providing humour, wit and drama performed without spoken words. There are many memorable moments that audiences will love including Jack the dog’s heroic rescue, rehearsal/audition/dance sequences, Peppy’s private moment with George’s jacket in his dressing room, or the staircase scene that is an allegory of the ups and downs of show business and how it affects those who work in the film industry. It’s a film about intertwined destinies when one kind gesture from a superstar at the height of his career can lead to unexpected generosity in return when he loses everything.

The Artist, Behind The Scenes Film Trailer (courtesy of The Weinstein Company):

Director: Michel Hazanavicius

Writer: Michel Hazanavicius (screenplay)

Cast: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell, Penelope Ann Miller, Malcolm McDowell, Missi Pyle, Beth Grant, Joel Murray, Ken Davitian, Ed Lauter, Bitsie Tulloch, Basil Hoffman, Nina Siemaszko, Bill Fagerbakke, Cletus Young, Uggie the dog.

Producers: Danile Delume, Antoine de Cazotte, Richard Middleton, Emmanuel Montamat, Thomas Langmann

Cinematographer: Guillaume Schiffman (Director of Photography)

Original Music Composer: Ludovic Bource

Film Editors: Michel Hazanavicius, Anne-Sophie Bion

Production: Laurence Bennett (Production Designer), Gregory S. Hooper (Art Director), Robert Gould (Set Decorator)

Costume Designer: Mark Bridges

Running Time: 1 hour and 40 minutes

References:

*BBC news online staff writer. ‘[I]Artist director responds to Kim Novak Vertigo claim[/I]’. 10 January 2012. BBC news website:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16482624 

**From the Oxford Dictionary: flapper noun, informal - (in the 1920s) a fashionable young woman intent on enjoying herself and flouting conventional standards of behaviour.