Flight

Commercial airline pilot Whip Whitaker has a problem with drugs and alcohol, though so far he's managed to complete his flights safely. His luck runs out when a disastrous mechanical malfunction sends his plane hurtling toward the ground. Whip pulls off a miraculous crash-landing that results in only six lives lost. Shaken to the core, Whip vows to get sober -- but when the crash investigation exposes his addiction, he finds himself in an even worse situation.

Zemeckis's return to live-action is anchored almost entirely by Denzel Washington, whose portrayal of an alcoholic pilot unraveling under the weight of his own heroism drew widespread admiration — the character study works precisely because Washington refuses to make Whip likable or safe. Critics were broadly on board, though pilots and aviation experts loudly objected that the film's premise strains credibility, and a handful of reviewers felt the drama leaned on its star to carry structural weaknesses in the script.