Flight Risk

I'm glad I didn't see this at the movies... paid $6 on Prime and even still I feel a little cheated. This film had the potential of being a great move, but it just didn't meet par with suspense, dialogue, or entertainment. These are good actors, seasoned and good at their craft but I think the writers were lacking. They left them hanging and struggling to take what was written and make the movie believable.

Something is no longer good in Hollywood, the talent has fallen to an all-time low. I've noticed the "F" word is now mainstay with writers indicating they have little expertise in narrative.

I won't watch it again... maybe on a rainy day with no where to go and its the only thing available, then maybe.

Flight Risk is the very definition of the term "Straight to DVD movie" from which I know it is a redundant statement in the modern era, but you get the point. The film is a low-budget thriller with a decent premise to kill an evening, and with Mel Gibson directing at the helm, I thought it might be worth checking out. Unfortunately, the film doesn't pay off as anything remarkable. Mark Wahlberg is introduced as a wise-cracking, charismatic pilot who holds the screen well initially, but the character fails to blossom throughout the film to anything interesting. My main confusion is the tone, the movie consistently juggles between a sort of intense thriller and an intentional comedy. However, I didn't find the jokes or light humor funny and considering the situation they are all placed in, it just perplexed me. I feel that if the film focused on being a straight up thriller, it could have been a pretty decent little flick. Not to mention a final shot that I found a rather bizarre choice to end on. Overall, Flight Risk contains strong performances, and is nicely directed, but narratively speaking it could have been a lot better.

With the boss of the "Moretti" crime family about to go on trial, his accountant "Winston" (Topher Grace) thought it better to skedaddle to the Alaskan wilderness. Unluckily for him, determined deputy marshal "Madolyn" (Michelle Dockery) tracks him down and engages the pilot of a single-prop aircraft to fly him back to New York to turn state's evidence. The pilot (Mark Wahlberg) is one of those annoyingly chirpy guys and off they set. It's gonna be a bumpy ride, but after she notices a few scars on this man, it proves to be a great deal bumpier as their tiny little cockpit becomes the scene for quite a power struggle. It's that claustrophobic environment and quite an engaging effort from Wahlberg that deliver here as this airborne game of cat and mouse hots up. Sure, it does repeat itself once too often and the story is really all quite predictably weak, but the scenario does work well enough and with Grace's wise-cracking and a competent performance from Dockery it's actually not a bad watch for ninety minutes.

It's not a high concept movie by any stretch. But, it is an entertaining flick. And, it's the first time Wahlberg has played an actual bad guy since 1996's Fear. And not to give anything away, but damn, his character gets taken to task to say the least.

Topher Grace is...Topher Grace in this movie. His character really could've been played by any number of actors. The same could be said for the actress who played the FBI agent. But in reality, none of the characters actually required in depth character study or to be standout. It was just a matter of getting actors to sign onto the film who could competently pull off the scenes.

So again, it's a decent film overall. I don't think anyone will walk out feeling disappointed or angry about spending their time or money watching it. And as run of the mill as it is, it's still better than what's being nominated for an Academy award this year.

LIKES: Funny Dialogue Acting That Goes With Comedy A Decent Character Story Good Visuals In The Limited Setting Some Clever Maneuvers Good Pace A Blend of Thriller And Comedy Summary: If you have seen the trailers, you know the movie's plot sounds a bit farfetched, and you would be right on the money with that assumption. Flight Risk is a movie that is meant to be something serious but turns out to be a silly ordeal intertwined with those elements. Our cast is essentially three actors trying to make a tale with some heart, suspense, and a good drive toward the fate of an accomplice for the local crime lord. On some levels, the movie accomplishes this better than I had expected, given the absurdity of the plot. It's a movie with better character development, with two of the characters going deeper and connecting far past the initial expectations of the opening scene.

The performances are not the best executed, but they are fun and believable at times as they handle the very shaky script that is not to be taken seriously from what I saw with the movie. Dockery is the most serious of the bunch and accomplishes the Crime/Thriller role the best with the focus, seriousness, and agent-like composure she wields professionally, but she also has moments of vulnerability that are authentic and well-written. Grace starts out like another knock-off to That 70's show but then evolves into more as the flight continues to hit turbulence and the fight for survival begins. Despite the serious attempts, though, the movie is drowned out in comedy, to which Wahlberg excels with his corny delivery, odd energy, and that slightly laughable grin he has made his trademark brand.

I laughed a lot at this film because of the dialogue and clever bits of humor mixed in; the stretches were balanced enough to make things fun without being too annoying. Once the thrills started, the laughs continued as well from the crazy things they had the plane go through, the actions very unrealistic to the level that it's so bad, it's ironically good. The thrills keep coming, the pace exciting with it, and the story laid out to take the right breaks to expand upon the characters. It's a nice blend and provides much more to the entertainment aspects that impressed me with just how fun it was to see it all come together. Throw in a good set of visuals to make the effects look realistic and you've accomplished yet another fun aspect of the movie to help distract from the ludicrous project Flight Risk is.

DISLIKES: Cheesy Wahlberg's Character Is Eh A Bit Too Comedy Better Story/Twist Execution Summary: The movie is cheesy, and you have to be ready to suspend that disbelief to levels that might be annoying to some fans. All the positive things mentioned above help this, but there are still moments that stretch things too much for me to ignore. The comedy does get a bit overbearing at times, feeling like a sitcom in how forced and frequent the jokes are without the full delivery and timing to build it up. Those moments do get a tad stale for me and might be the same for those with a low tolerance for more comedy and less story. The tale has its ups and downs, but I felt it needed a better execution of the story and the "twists" that lie with it. Flight Risk needed to be in something other than a plane or have a story taking place during it, like Speed did, to help add more dynamic telling and give us something more than a conveniently designed plane. This is done via the radio, but it still felt strained, with eye-rolling moments that were just too much to believe and swallow down. Throw in the lame use of Wahlberg's character for comedic relief and a visual antagonist, and the story takes further hits from the expectations placed by the trailers. More character development, psychological warfare, and storytelling with him were the biggest things I wanted from this movie for improvement, especially given how well Wahlberg can make a character shine if given the material. It is another case of too much compacted into one setting, and even though the thrills hit at times, they just can't match some better thrillers I've seen in the past.

The VERDICT: Flight Risk meets many expectations in what the trailers laid out. It's a cheesy movie, full of contrived moments and disbelief to help add artificial thrills to the movie and try to get that entertaining Friday Flick that they love so well. A strong acting game makes the material more fun, with comedic delivery and banter being the primary meat in this sandwich to munch on, with a few vulnerable moments to act as an appetizer. The thrills are enjoyable despite the unrealistic moments, but there was more that could have come together to unleash the full potential of the movie and address the story limitations that a single plane location provides. Still, this pace, the visual effects, and the fun that I had with this movie make it a suitable one to hit the theater to watch and kill some time. My scores for the movie are:

Action/Crime/Drama/thriller: 6.5-7.0 Movie Overall: 6.5.