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Flight

I watch a lot of movies but I don’t watch current movies too often. To me, Flight is a current movie (if that tells you anything). I got it from Netflix and watched it last week. I’ve wanted to see it since it first came out. I love Denzel Washington. He is such a powerful actor and his Oscar nod this year certainly says something.

The opening of the movie is very gritty and dark but the crash scene was well done. Not quite as vivid as the crash scene in say Bohjalian’s The Night Strangers, but dramatic. Very dramatic.

Halfway through the movie, I realized just how dark it was. Yes, I knew that Denzel’s character had a drinking problem but I wasn’t aware that drugs played a role as well. I think I moved the laundry from the washing machine to the dryer at that point or I would have known this fact earlier. I don’t know about you but once drugs enter the picture, everything becomes desperate and I immediately hated Denzel’s character. The whole plot of the movie revolves around the fact that although Whip (Denzel) saved a lot of lives that day by landing a doomed plane, he did it while totally under the influence of drugs and alcohol. As you can imagine, the situation is not ideal.

Towards the end of the movie, Whip makes a terrible decision and his union friend and lawyer are forced to go along with it and that made me so mad! I almost turned it off at that point. The tone of the movie reminded me of another depressing movie, Leaving Las Vegas. But, in the end, I ending up liking it quite a bit. Denzel’s performance was impressive. John Goodman, as Whip’s drug dealing friend, has a small part but he plays it like a boss. Whip’s love interest is played by an actress I’ve never seen before (Kelly Reilly) but she was quite good and very beautiful in a non-traditional way. I actually looked her up to see what she’s done but didn’t recognize her previous films.

Kelly Reilly from Flight

Isn’t she striking?

If you managed to stay with me this long then you should know that I recommend the movie but make sure you don’t have your kids around.It’s not a movie for the whole family to see. There is some nudity, lots of profanity and of course, the drug aspect to consider.

Have you seen it?

The Sense of an Ending
By Julian Barnes
(Vintage, Paperback, 9780307947727, May 2012, 176pp.)

*No Spoilers*

The Short of It:

An elegantly written page-turner that left me cold.

The Rest of It:

This is one of those books that left me utterly divided on how I felt about it. The reading experience was pleasant and the story was interesting but it left me wanting more and not in a good way.

Tony Webster, a middle-aged man is forced to consider his past when a friend from long ago kills himself and the mother of an old girlfriend leaves him a small sum of money. The latter of which confuses him as he only met the woman once. Why in the world would she leave him anything?

The story alternates from the present to the past as Tony remembers his time with Veronica and how his close friend at the time, Adrian Finn ended up with her. A move that Tony has never forgiven Adrian for, even after news of his death.

This novel is all about memory and history and how with the passage of time, memory can change. I enjoyed the writing and felt that the characters were well-developed and intriguing enough for me to want to keep reading. But going into it, I knew that the ending was supposed to be a real shocker. Well, without giving anything away, I didn’t think the ending to be all that great or shocking and it left many questions unanswered. Usually, I don’t mind it if a book leaves you guessing, but in this case, I was frustrated by it. I remember posting about it on Facebook, thinking I maybe didn’t get it, or that I missed something big, but no. I got it just fine. It just didn’t surprise me as much as I expected it to.

Also, there were little mentions of things that I am still pondering, like the “horizontal secret hand gesture” that was mentioned. My mind was in the gutter while trying to figure that one out. Why be so vague? No one would say that when telling a story. It was an obvious attempt at keeping the secret and it bored me.

I know there are many that loved this book, but unfortunately… I did not.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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