Let's face it; this film has very little to do with being a pilot, flying, a plane crash, etc. It's mostly about a drunk and coke head who befriends a heroin addict.
This film has been done many times before of course, even the drunk pilot concept with Cliff Robertson in "The Pilot". The script writer was able to cram enough elements into this film to have something for everyone...that is except for those of us interested in well done original film-making. It's got a plane crash, sex, drugs, rock'n'roll, John Goodman as a coke dealer, a cancer victim, a heroine addict/hooker, a father-son thing, an all-star cast.
But the worst aspect of this aside from its trying to squeeze money out of a weak script by over-blowing it, is the unbelievability of the scenario. This is extremely unlikely to occur in a US commercial flight: a drunk coked-up pilot mixed with a catastrophic failure of the aircraft all at once. My final comment is that the actor playing the copilot's wife gave the the most ridiculous performance I've seen in a long time.
On one level though they came in for a perfect landing. The destination was the twin airports of BBD (big bucks made by dumbing it down) and ILD (injecting a lethal dose of Stupid into film junkies). They had a slight diversion to the city of BSC (big stars act like cartoon characters), but after connecting through the airport of OHC (overhype and crass), came in smoothly and landed on the tarmac of OPA (overpaid actors) and the final destination of OCM (overcharged moviegoers).
I recommend instead 1964's "Fate is the Hunter" starring Glenn Ford and Rod Taylor or my favorite flight film: "Flight of the Phoenix" (1965) with Jimmy Stewart, Richard Attenborough, and Hardy Kruger.
This film has been done many times before of course, even the drunk pilot concept with Cliff Robertson in "The Pilot". The script writer was able to cram enough elements into this film to have something for everyone...that is except for those of us interested in well done original film-making. It's got a plane crash, sex, drugs, rock'n'roll, John Goodman as a coke dealer, a cancer victim, a heroine addict/hooker, a father-son thing, an all-star cast.
But the worst aspect of this aside from its trying to squeeze money out of a weak script by over-blowing it, is the unbelievability of the scenario. This is extremely unlikely to occur in a US commercial flight: a drunk coked-up pilot mixed with a catastrophic failure of the aircraft all at once. My final comment is that the actor playing the copilot's wife gave the the most ridiculous performance I've seen in a long time.
On one level though they came in for a perfect landing. The destination was the twin airports of BBD (big bucks made by dumbing it down) and ILD (injecting a lethal dose of Stupid into film junkies). They had a slight diversion to the city of BSC (big stars act like cartoon characters), but after connecting through the airport of OHC (overhype and crass), came in smoothly and landed on the tarmac of OPA (overpaid actors) and the final destination of OCM (overcharged moviegoers).
I recommend instead 1964's "Fate is the Hunter" starring Glenn Ford and Rod Taylor or my favorite flight film: "Flight of the Phoenix" (1965) with Jimmy Stewart, Richard Attenborough, and Hardy Kruger.