William "Whip" Whitaker is a veteran pilot for an American airline whose private life is shaped by alcohol and drugs. After a difficult flight in which he manages to save most of the people on board, he becomes a media hero. While he recovers in hospital and tries to protect his reputation, a union representative and a lawyer warn him that an investigation could change how everyone sees him. Meanwhile he reconnects with his past and meets Nicole, a woman fighting her own addiction. The film focuses on his struggle with drinking and on the pressure of facing the truth.

How it was made

Robert Zemeckis entered negotiations to direct in April 2011 and had accepted by June, while Denzel Washington was about to finalize his own deal. It was the first time the two had worked together. John Gatins wrote the screenplay, and the cast came together over the summer and autumn of 2011, including Kelly Reilly, Don Cheadle, Bruce Greenwood, John Goodman and Melissa Leo. Filming took place largely near Atlanta, Georgia, over about 45 days in November 2011. With a budget of 31 million dollars, the production benefited from tax rebates from Georgia, and Zemeckis and Washington waived their usual fees. The fictional crash is loosely inspired by the 2000 Alaska Airlines Flight 261, borrowing elements such as the technical cause, fragments of cockpit radio exchanges and the inverted flight. Retired MD-80 aircraft and mockups supplied by Scroggins Aviation were used to represent the plane.

Reception and legacy

The film premiered at the New York Film Festival on October 14, 2012, and opened in theaters on November 2 through Paramount Pictures. Critics gave it generally positive reviews, praising Washington's performance and Zemeckis's return to live-action filmmaking after Cast Away and What Lies Beneath in 2000. It grossed 161.8 million dollars, a strong result for its budget. It appeared on several critics' year-end top ten lists and received two nominations at the 85th Academy Awards: Best Actor for Washington and Best Original Screenplay for Gatins.

Stills

Trailer

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Trivia

A lean shoot

Zemeckis calculated that the budget was his smallest in inflation-adjusted dollars since 1980. Georgia tax rebates and the waived fees were key to making it work.

Real inspiration

The crash does not reproduce a single event. It borrows elements from Alaska Airlines Flight 261, such as the technical cause and the inverted flight during the descent.

More films by Robert Zemeckis

Forrest Gump1994

Back to the Future1985

Who Framed Roger Rabbit1988

Back to the Future Part II1989

Cast Away2000

Back to the Future Part III1990

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