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Flight poster

Flight

year 2012decade 10sdirector Robert Zemeckisgenre Drama

139 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Don Cheadle Hugh Lang
Kelly Reilly Nicole
John Goodman Harling Mays
Bruce Greenwood Charlie
Melissa Leo Ellen Block
Brian Geraghty Ken Evans
Tamara Tunie Margaret Thomason
Nadine Velazquez Katerina Marquez
Peter Gerety Avington Karr
Boni Yanagisawa Camelia Satou

Flight | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanhost Van Lathan
Explore episodeClose episode

Producer credits not yet identified.

The Butch’s Girlfriend Award for the Weakest Link in the Film

Romance lacks a defining scene; epilogue too reassuring; no weak link also offered

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:07:33Read transcript
  • Goodman appears less than remembered. The romance is criticized as an incompatible second film, but defended because Whip cannot sustain a relationship and the viewer stays trapped in his uncomfortable perspective.
  • Growing affection resembles Cast Away, but the prison speech and son’s visit may provide an overly reassuring epilogue.
  • The romance lacks a great defining scene despite rich setup. A counterreading says Nicole cannot rescue Whip and escapes after recognizing his abuse; the cruel confrontation is praised for restoring her dignity.
  • Other participants report no weak link.

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Whip unfairly punished; purgatory theory; Nicole should accept the adult-film offer; cocaine joke

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:08:58Read transcript
  • One view argues Whip was unfairly punished after saving almost everyone; his intoxication may have reduced fear. Others distinguish successful results from moral culpability. The request that Margaret protect him is a favorite example.
  • A theory proposes that Nicole and Whip are dead and the film depicts purgatory. The overdose, congregation, apparent hospital apparition, religious language, television images and glowing minibar support the reading, explicitly not asserted as filmmaker intent.
  • A provocative take argues Nicole should have accepted the porn offer, defending sex work and the filmmakers’ artistic pitch; others question the directors’ treatment of her.
  • Cocaine is jokingly defended for helping Whip function; the remark is a comic interpretation of the plot, not health advice.

What’s Aged the Best?

Washington’s damaged performance; crash staging; Reilly; smoking; SouthJet; souls; stroke-bags phrase; porn-set scene

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 00:15:34Read transcript
  • Washington’s unglamorous, vulnerable performance contrasts with Alonzo’s swagger: addiction makes Whip cruel, physically worn and unpleasant without romanticizing intoxication.
  • Damaged Washington characters remain compelling; he allowed himself to age out of the handsome leading-man image and expand his roles. His private ranking and preparation are wondered about without answers.
  • The crash’s visual effects feel practical and unforgettable, compared with Jurassic Park, The Dark Knight and The Matrix; the silent glide toward the church is especially admired. Whether any real plane inverted is uncertain.
  • The first half-hour and Whip breathing oxygen while hungover are praised; IVs are imagined as a modern substitute.
  • Washington is praised as a great screen smoker, alongside De Niro, Liotta, Pacino, Mickey Rourke and Edie Falco in an unranked Mount Smokemore exchange.
  • Reilly is named as aged best, and the crash’s apparently practical staging remains exceptional. A recreational cocaine resurgence in the 2010s is claimed without detailed evidence.
  • SouthJet is a convincing low-end airline name; Whip’s career trajectory suggests stalled advancement. Calling passengers souls adds gravity.
  • The phrase stroke bags remains funny even as physical pornography magazines become dated; the made-up magazine title is corrected.
  • The trailer works despite a familiar Stones cue. Nicole visiting the porn set for The Beast with Two Backs inspires interest in a separate film about that production.

Recasting Couch

DiCaprio; Pitt; Amy Adams; Gosling as copilot; Viola Davis as investigator

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:17:49Read transcript
  • DiCaprio might accept the role and Pitt might try it; Hanks is doubted and Cruise imagined turning it comic, as American Made treats Barry Seal more lightly.
  • Amy Adams is floated as a potentially stronger Nicole, disputed by a Reilly defender.
  • Gosling is imagined as the copilot; Viola Davis as the surviving attendant is disputed as too small a role, then Davis in Melissa Leo’s authority role is accepted.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Budget and gross; Alaska261; pilot criticism; sobriety; faith symbolism; production anecdotes

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:37:00Read transcript
  • A 31 million budget and 161.8 million gross are cited, with reduced Washington/Zemeckis compensation.
  • Alaska 261’s fatal inverted-flight attempt reportedly inspired the film; Atlanta filming and Zemeckis’s 1600 flight hours are cited. Pilot Patrick Smith criticizes the depiction as implausible and insulting to airline testing standards.
  • Goodman’s sobriety since 2007, similarities to 1980’s The Pilot and a 7:14 alarm/Chronicles 7:14 faith connection are reported.
  • Washington reportedly takes scene partners to dinner before intimate filming to build familiarity; the hosts speculate about venues and recall other costars.
  • Velazquez’s interview recounts using skin-colored modesty tape and Washington asking about it during filming; her joking reply is relayed.
  • The performer playing Kip is reportedly an accomplished editor who edited Country Strong.
  • A superstition about flight numbers adding to 11 is raised with 227 and two 191 crashes; the discussion makes Van anxious rather than establishing a causal fact.

Roger Ebert's review

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 00:37:00Read transcript
  • Ebert awarded four stars, admired the terrifying crash and brave Washington performance, and praised the sympathetic personal journey. A top-five placement is queried rather than securely established.

Most Rewatchable Scene

Hotel relapse through Goodman; crash; opening

In the discussion (16)
Approx. transcript time · 00:38:47Read transcript
  • The opening hotel scene and Nadine Velazquez’s nudity made a striking theatrical impression; its importance later in the story and the abrupt cocaine-to-Feelin’ Alright transition are praised.
  • The takeoff toward a sliver of sunshine and the nine-minute crash are praised, especially Whip’s calm amid the copilot’s panic and technical dialogue.
  • Whip’s instruction that Margaret record a farewell to her son gives the crash its human center and displays his extraordinary awareness.
  • A flight attendant’s death while helping a child is distressing, with her body thrown about during inversion.
  • The crew member’s tumbling body seems almost like an Airplane gag despite the tragedy; the clipped church cross and baptism water foreground religious symbolism.
  • Whip’s bloodshot, concussed hospital awakening contrasts the crash’s noise with stunned silence and grief over the deaths.
  • The stairwell meeting with the gaunt cancer patient is an admired philosophical center; James Badge Dale’s Departed role prompts a desire for more setup there.
  • Cheadle confronting Whip over the toxicology report punctures his entitlement and warns both protagonist and audience about the stakes.
  • Margaret’s funeral confrontation and the intensely religious hospitalized copilot/wife are favorites; even survivors’ serious injuries are frightening.
  • Cheadle’s desperate warning beside the reconstructed aircraft highlights Whip’s continued drinking; the plane’s incomplete reassembly mirrors his broken state.
  • The adjoining hotel room’s temptation, relapse and morning discovery create unbearable suspense even on repeat viewings. The minibar’s abundance seems almost supernatural, and the whole stretch through Goodman is one vote.
  • Goodman’s first hospital visit with cigarettes and magazines is another nominee; his later Banana Boat rescue dominates through furious energy, expertise, payment demands and exit. The nickname’s origin inspires mock training-course jokes.
  • The testimony confession and I’m drunk right now line complete the collapse of Whip’s lies; addiction audiences reportedly find the minibar especially truthful.
  • Melissa Leo’s recurring Washington collaborations are wondered about, and the prison speech about sobriety and freedom is praised.
  • Final preferences split among the hotel-to-Goodman stretch, the crash and the opening; one apparent crash vote immediately changes to the opening.
  • Van confirms the opening as his honest choice; Craig’s family-viewing anecdote illustrates its awkwardness. Thus the three core choices remain hotel stretch, crash and opening.

The Great Shot Gordo Award for Most Cinematic Shot

Hotel opening; glide toward church; inverted plane; bottle snatch

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:41:51Read transcript
  • The distant single-camera hotel setup captures Whip’s chaotic combination of sex, substance use and family responsibilities; an award nomination is explicitly qualified.
  • The slow-motion glide toward the church, inverted plane over the hotel and lingering bottle before Whip snatches it are separate choices.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Breakfast; flight damage; toxicology; inversion; Banana Boat; Harling’s work; party flights; Stones usage

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:41:51Read transcript
  • Whip’s beer, marijuana, cigarettes and cocaine breakfast prompts jokes about adding food or at least chilling the beer.
  • Whip may have damaged the plane by choosing rough weather; striking or suppressing the toxicology report is doubted. These remain plot questions rather than findings of fault or legal conclusions.
  • A Popular Mechanics discussion is cited about theoretical inversion, with survival depending on righting the aircraft near landing; this is reported speculation, not an instruction or verified feasibility assessment.
  • Banana Boat is interpreted as getting a debilitated person functioning again. Harling’s livelihood is imagined as small-scale dealing, betting, spiritual advice, trading cards or welding.
  • Drinking flight attendants and separate adults-only party flights are jokingly proposed.
  • Participants guess Sympathy for the Devil is more overused than Gimme Shelter, but an informal search finds more listed uses for Gimme Shelter; the search is not claimed exhaustive. Flight uses both.
  • The informal Sympathy for the Devil roster is Focus, Flight, Suicide Squad, Interview with the Vampire, Tropic Thunder, Coming Home and Cruella. The Gimme Shelter roster is Flight, Goodfellas, The Departed, Casino, Ford v Ferrari, The Gambler, The Fan, Layer Cake and Adventures in Babysitting; these are reported search results, not exhaustive credits.

The Neil McCauley “A Book about Metals” Award for Best Line from the Movie

“The random events in your life are God”; “I’ve been every kind of masseuse there is”; “Guard the door”

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:46:20Read transcript
  • The cancer patient’s statement about recognizing random events as God and relinquishing control is proposed as the key quotation.
  • Nicole’s every-kind-of-masseuse line and Goodman ordering the room cleared, calling Cheadle CeeLo and demanding payment are choices.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Dated magazines; generic soundtrack; awkward runtime; Dr. Umar joke

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:04:01Read transcript
  • Printed pornography magazines are called obsolete.
  • The conventional soundtrack and an awkward middle-length cut are criticized; both a shorter and longer version might have worked better.
  • A joke suggests that Dr. Umar’s opposition makes interracial screen romances harder to defend; the others say they cannot respond or do not know the reference.

The Slow Ride / Kid Cudi – Pursuit of Happiness Award for Best Needle Drop

Sweet Jane; Under the Bridge; Sympathy for the Devil; Gimme Shelter; Feelin’ Alright—choices criticized

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:04:32Read transcript
  • Sweet Jane, Under the Bridge, Sympathy for the Devil, Gimme Shelter and Feelin’ Alright are discussed. The familiar choices are criticized as overly literal, unlike or sometimes like Forrest Gump’s soundtrack; no single agreed winning drop is declared.

Apex Mountain

Nadine Velazquez; Zemeckis plane crashes; hotel minibars

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:28:07Read transcript
  • Washington and Reilly are rejected; Velazquez is affirmed alongside her My Name Is Earl visibility.
  • Zemeckis plane crashes favors Flight over Cast Away for its step-by-step suspense.
  • Addiction movies is disputed against Leaving Las Vegas, Trainspotting and Requiem for a Dream, with Leaving Las Vegas favored for awards.
  • Post-Roseanne Goodman loses to The Big Lebowski and other work; Atlanta is rejected. Cocaine as a positive force gets joking assent, named heroin batches and magazines are floated, and hotel minibars receive an explicit yes.

Picking Nits

Obvious intoxication; unsafe flight; hotel safeguards; bottle count; hearing delay; supervision timing

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:31:16Read transcript
  • His intoxication should be obvious by smell and behavior, though the copilot noticed and Margaret knew his habits. Trina should be anxious after sharing his sleepless drug-fueled night.
  • Autopilot and Whip’s choice to fly aggressively through weather are discussed with uncertainty about automated takeoffs versus landings.
  • The adjoining hotel door and stocked minibar should have been secured, and the guard should have heard the destructive night.
  • The enormous bottle count seems physically implausible even with tolerance; no verified medical threshold is asserted.
  • Postpone the hearing with a food-poisoning excuse or bring him into supervised sobriety closer to testimony rather than leaving a long interval.

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

Navy prequel; prestige series; prison sequel

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:34:54Read transcript
  • A Navy prequel about Whip and Charlie, a prestige series and a prison sequel are proposed. Shot Caller and a future prison-movie theme are discussed as prospective programming.

Is This Movie Better With…?

Samuel L. Jackson; Byron Mayo; Harling Mays in earlier films

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:35:36Read transcript
  • Harling Mays is already present and disqualified; Samuel L. Jackson as Whip would be much funnier.
  • Jackson is also preferred as Harling Mays; Wayne Jenkins is judged redundant. Harling is imagined in past films such as Saving Private Ryan, and Byron Mayo in the opening room.
  • Another Byron Mayo opening-scene impersonation is offered.

Just One Oscar

Washington; screenplay

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:37:10Read transcript
  • Washington is the initial choice, with a strong competing case for John Gatins’s screenplay and its original, memorable characters.

Who Won the Movie?

Not stated

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:43:36Read transcript
  • The winner question is raised, but no candidate is represented in the transcript before the turn to producer Craig. No ballot is inferred.

Producer review

Terrifying crash; stronger middle desired; afterlife theory persuasive

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:43:50Read transcript
  • The closing review finds the crash extraordinarily frightening, likes the first and last 25 minutes most, and wants a middle scene with Whip flying Nicole in the small aircraft.
  • The closing review praises Chris’s afterlife theory for changing his interpretation, especially the congregation in white; the hosts acknowledge someone else may independently have conceived it.

More from the conversation

The first 2024 taping revisits a frequent cable favorite whose addiction story and abrupt post-crash change of pace become more satisfying with familiarity.
Approx. transcript time · 00:02:42Read transcript
The crash overwhelmed the first theatrical viewing, while repeated watches reveal the hospital and cancer patient as the film’s heart; the stranger initially seemed almost an apparition. The changing appreciation is compared with learning an album’s deeper tracks.
Approx. transcript time · 00:05:34Read transcript
Flight fits the 2012 antihero era but exemplifies the disappearing adult studio drama: a major star/director and spectacle attached to an unsparing standalone story. Brad Grey’s support and salary cuts are recalled.
Approx. transcript time · 00:11:08Read transcript
The Denzel draft leads into competing personal career peaks: Flight, Training Day and Malcolm X form a core, with He Got Game and Mo’ Better Blues as fourth choices; Fences is defended as a later great performance. No settled ranked list results.
Approx. transcript time · 00:14:18Read transcript
Leaving Las Vegas offers a comparison for drinking toward death; Whip’s rescue forces him to confront his continuing value to other people.
Approx. transcript time · 00:16:43Read transcript
Even routine Washington work is enjoyable; anticipation for his unusual supporting role in Gladiator 2 leads to uncertain speculation about release timing and character.
Approx. transcript time · 00:22:04Read transcript
The four favorite screen crashes are Flight, Cast Away, Alive and Fearless, with Sully, The Grey and The Edge honorable mentions. Flight’s pilot perspective and unexplained technical language distinguish it from passenger-centered scenes.
Approx. transcript time · 00:24:54Read transcript
Van recalls avoiding air travel for 11–12 years; the film paradoxically reassured him about pilot competence and redundant systems. News and wrestling-flight anecdotes complicate that reassurance.
Approx. transcript time · 00:25:14Read transcript
Fear of tall buildings after 9/11 is recalled. United 93 is praised as a tribute and harrowing cockpit film, but Van refuses to watch it.
Approx. transcript time · 00:27:20Read transcript
The supporting ensemble is praised, particularly Greenwood; Kelly Reilly was less legible as a star before Yellowstone and missed a supporting nomination. A future dog-month movie is suggested, not a current theme.
Approx. transcript time · 00:29:43Read transcript
The Oscar actor lineup includes Daniel Day-Lewis, Bradley Cooper, Hugh Jackman, Joaquin Phoenix and Washington. Day-Lewis versus Washington is treated as a close call, with disagreement over Lincoln’s pacing.
Approx. transcript time · 00:30:33Read transcript
Phoenix also deserves the actor award. Reilly’s supporting case is disputed against Amy Adams and the other nominees; Flight received original-screenplay recognition but Zemeckis missed director.
Approx. transcript time · 00:31:39Read transcript
Zemeckis’s entertaining career is called awards-undervalued, tempered by his long motion-capture detour. Used Cars, Back to the Future trilogy, Roger Rabbit, Death Becomes Her, Forrest Gump, What Lies Beneath and Cast Away are celebrated; Contact divides the group, defended for shifting spectacle into existential questions.
Approx. transcript time · 00:33:30Read transcript
The film alternates envy, admiration and disgust toward Whip before his final moral act; more Contact/mystical-Bill joking follows.
Approx. transcript time · 00:37:33Read transcript
A joking Latina-star pantheon centers Velazquez and Salma Hayek in From Dusk Till Dawn and Dogma; no complete numbered list is delivered.
Approx. transcript time · 00:40:55Read transcript
Flight and Saltburn are jokingly terrible airplane viewing; Bill’s mother chose Saltburn as her favorite but declined a podcast appearance.
Approx. transcript time · 01:00:08Read transcript
The earlier Top Gun:Maverick afterlife theory is compared.
Approx. transcript time · 01:17:47Read transcript
A Washington bed-scene preparation anecdote is introduced and continues next packet.
Approx. transcript time · 01:24:54Read transcript
An Unwatchables concept includes Requiem for a Dream, United 93 and Million Dollar Baby; the latter’s devastating reveal and a colleague’s first viewing are recalled. Future theme only.
Approx. transcript time · 01:29:18Read transcript