The promotions for the new "thriller" FLIGHT RISK go out of their way not to mention Director Mel Gibson by name. They note the director's previous works like "Braveheart" and "Apocalypto", two very different, visionary epics. So what the hell is this unsavory, pathetic mess?
Badly cast, poorly edited and executed at the level of an old Direct-to-Video B movie, this is embarrassing for all involved.
Topher Grace (Spider-Man 3, Heretic) is all over the place as Winston, an accountant for the mob captured in a remote part of Alaska by FBI agent Madolyn (Michelle Dockery) in the opening scene.
The dialogue is dumb, dumb, dumb. It's a grade school take on clever one liners that fall flat at ever turn.
Even in that opening scene, you can feel desperation sinking in, with Gibson seemingly filling every quiet moment with exploding microwaves and giant wildlife at the window. Maybe he looked at the final script and seeing how thin it was, just decided to make the whole film so loud and busy, you might not notice.
I noticed.
That script, by newcomer Jared Rosenberg is one of the worst I've seen in many years. Was he going for the crude tone that oozes from its celluloid pores throughout? It feels like he has a man crush on 90's writer Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, The Last Action Hero) and channeled Black's tone into his keyboard through a filter that removed all humor, sense of timing and enjoyment out of his creation.
And then there is Mark Wahlberg. Oh, Mark. You can be a fun, entertaining actor. "The Departed"and "Patriot's Day" showed dramatic chops. 'Ted"is comic brilliance. So WTF is this? Playing "Daryl" a sadistic killer who impersonates the real pilot so he can take down Winston before he can testify, Wahlberg sports a bad bald cap and an ever worse southern accent.
He spends much of the film telling Winston how he's going to rape him before he chops him up. Charming.
I have so many questions.
Other than to create a very stupid plot for a bad film, why would the mob secure a vicious serial killer for free to take out the witness?
Wouldn't a standard hitman in the trees at that Mayberry like Alaska airport have been a lot easier?
What are the odds that Wahlberg's wannabe Jeffrey Dahmer would have his pilot's license?
How many times can you stun gun, smash someone over the head with a fire extinguisher, stab and shoot them before they are finally dead?
Is the a Jason Voorhees movie or a suspense flick?
If you're going to set 90% of a film inside a small confined space, shouldn't at least one of the characters have some redeeming qualities or some speck of likability?
This thing makes Karen Black landing the 747 in "Airport 1975" seem plausible.
The last half of the film finds an increasingly paranoid Madolyn thinking everyone at the FBI is against her. As a subplot in any season of the fondly remembered Fox series "24", this could have been intriguing. But Rosenberg has no time for real storytelling, he's too busy getting to the next absurd verbal showdown or stabbing inside the plane.
After a while, it's all just too damn dumb to care about.
The film does have ONE redeeming quality that saves it from my lowest grade, Maaz Ali as the air traffic controller talking Madolyn down. He's funny, charming and definitely the dude you want at the other end of the mike in that scenario.
I'm not sure an 87 minute long film has ever felt this long.
Mel Gibson, you are a gifted Director, I'd argue that you're one of our very best.
Why in the world are you slumming with this crap? You deserve better, and for the love of Apocalypto, SO DO WE!
Gibson is already in pre-production on "Resurrection", his sure to be blockbuster sequel to "The Passion of the Christ". It feels like he's already started confessing for the sinful waste of talent and our time in FLIGHT RISK.
I'm betting word-of-mouth this weekend will sink this plane faster than a bird strike.
It gets a D-, only saved from an F by the talents of Maaz Ali as Hasan.
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