Flight Risk Review

Notwithstanding his worse days caught on tape, Mel Gibson has made quite a name for himself as a gifted filmmaker both in front of and behind the camera. However, Flight Risk feels slapped together and hurried to shelves, and with only a 22-day shooting schedule, it kind of was. Fortunately, most of those involved were talented enough to wing a deeply flawed but otherwise fun ride.

Character development is all but non-existent, with Topher Grace’s Winston being the worst offender of the main cast. Grace brings nothing special or even interesting to the role but isn’t totally to blame. After all, he’s written to be little more than a plot device and occasional prop.

Michelle Dockery, too, is completely forgettable as the lead U.S. Marshal in charge of safely conveying her witness to safety. Furthermore, the voice cast (virtually every other character exists as a faceless voice contacted via radio and/or phone) is just horrible, giving unbelievable, amateurish, and wooden performances, as even experienced performers chew through chunks of unnatural dialog.

The rest of first-time screenwriter Jared Rosenberg’s painfully dumb script does not help anyone else. Flight Risk is propelled by a combination of boneheaded decisions that make Dockery’s character appear developmentally delayed, and subsequent miracle coincidences that solve each problem arising from those decisions. Something as simple as a single glance in the conversation mirror at Dockery’s prisoner, and the movie would be over.

Then there’s the direction of Academy Award-winning director (back when that still meant something) Mel Gibson. Despite his impressive body of work, Gibson makes as many inexplicable oversights as his characters. Mark Wahlberg’s shaved head looks distractingly shorn rather than naturally bald. Then, there are seemingly important aspects of flying in such a small plane, which disappear for narrative convenience moments later. However, in an instance of the sloppiest bit of film continuity I’ve seen from a major name such as Gibson,

That said, Mark Wahlberg’s charisma and his clear love for every moment of his role manage to pull the film out of its nosedive and coast it to a safe, if bumpy, landing.

When it’s all said and done, there’s not much else out there worth watching right now. Yet, flawed though it might be, Flight Risk is a tight 90 minutes with enough thrills and charm to make for a fun date night.

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