180reviews - Flight

Flight - February 2013 

#BloomNetwork

Director: Robert Zemeckis Writer: John Gatins

Cast: Denzel Washington, Bruce Greenwood, Don Cheadle, Kelly Reilly, John Goodman, Tamara Tunie, Melissa Leo

The film opens with a spectacular flight sequence that culminates with Washington's Captain 'Whip' Whitaker turning a plane upside down and landing it. Out of the 102 passengers on board, 96 survive. Whitaker is lauded a hero soon becoming the centre of media attention. What is undisclosed is the Captain's serious drinking problem, substance abuse and his inability to stay sober even if it means proving the crash was an 'act of god'/technical calamity rather than the result of his own health state. Washington gives a powerful performance; emotional and irrational, the audience really relate to Whitaker willing him to stay sober even if we and even he knows he won't stay off the booze. The film seemed doomed from the start with such a compelling first half hour, but the brilliant supporting cast and the energetic tones kept this film off the ground. Particularly admirable turns from Greenwood and Reilly, but Cheadle and Goodman seemed slightly underused. The film teaches you many things including, don't drink and fly and that cocaine can cure hangovers in less than 40 minutes.

84%

Adam Bloom

180reviews - Lincoln 2012 - #BloomNetwork

LINCOLN 

#BloomNetwork

 

Director: Steven Spielberg, Writer: Tony Kushner,

Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, David Strathairn, John Hawkes, James Spader, Tim Blake Nelson, Jared Harris, Lee Pace, Jackie Earl Haley, Hal Holbrook.                                                                   

Outwardly, you can easily make the shloppy comparison of the pro-America genre that seems to have followed on from last year’s ‘War Horse’. But one should be aware that this passion project for Spielberg has been over 10 years in the making. If it wasn’t for such drastic rewrites and more available opportunities this could have been a very different film, with Liam Neeson as the lead. The Lincoln we get is a fresh take on the bio-pic, looking at the final months of the American Civil War and the 16^th President of the United States; as he tackles furiously to abolish slavery. Like a certain other Oscar-related film 2 years ago, it's talky (The Racial Network?). Heavy political discourse doesn’t hinder the dramatic ride, with the audience captivatingly driven alongside Lincoln to achieve his end goal. After the 13th amendment is passed, everything happens quite abruptly, probably due to the long running time. Lincoln could have been two films, but the squeeze barely justifies the emotionally clashing climax. Worthy of being one of Spielberg's best in a long time.

85%

Adam Bloom