Flight Risk
For the life of me, I’m somewhat baffled that Mel Gibson is the director behind “Flight Risk.” The Oscar-winning director- who has a history of antisemetic, racist, homophobic, and misogynist behavior, on top of domestic violence and being a full-blown conspiracy theorist- is an awful human being, but was always a compelling filmmaker, and you at least felt like there was a distinctive voice to his work, even if it wasn’t always a good voice to display. With his latest film, it feels very much in line with his on-screen work of late in VOD thrillers- a paycheck job that might get people to watch due to his name, but is a far cry from the films he made at the height of his stardom. If you’re uneasy watching a Gibson film because of the aforementioned descriptors, and are curious about this thriller, its lack of a distinct mark from the filmmaker might actually be a good thing for you.
In his first directorial effort since he was Oscar-nominated for “Hacksaw Ridge,” Gibson has chosen a screenplay by first-time screenwriter Jared Rosenberg that is a closed-room thriller, as its main characters are in a plane for 90 minutes while situations of great tension (well, supposed great tension) play out. We begin as Winston (Topher Grace) is in an Alaskan hotel room. He is set upon by the police, and a U.S. Marshal named Madolyn (Michelle Dockery). He is an accountant for a mob boss, and he’s willing to testify for full immunity. The next thing we know, they are getting on a small prop propeller plane heading to Anchorage to get him back to New York to testify piloted by Daryl (Mark Wahlberg, Gibson’s past co-star of “Daddy’s Home 2” and “Father Stu”). Turns out, however, Daryl is actually a hitman here to take out Winston and Madolyn. After Madolyn takes over the plane, though, she also has to figure out how Daryl knew Winston was being moved.
The more I thought about “Flight Risk” after the fact, I thought about Richard Donner’s final film, “16 Blocks.” That has a similar story, as well as emotional stakes for its main characters (in this case, Madolyn and Winston) to hopefully redeem themselves after past mistakes. Is that what drew Gibson to this film, as that feels like a similar theme as his directorial debut, “The Man Without a Face?” The problem is that, for as synonymous as Gibson has been with action movies and thrillers, over the years, his directorial work has been strongest when painting a big, epic canvas for his characters to live in. “Flight Risk” almost entirely takes place on the plane, and save for a handful of action beats, it just isn’t a setting that allows Gibson any room to make visually interesting choices. Add to that a wildly over-the-top villain performance by Wahlberg, and this is a very dull effort by Gibson. The film’s main, positive attributes are moments by Dockery and Grace that get to some emotional connections to be made between the characters, and a charming vocal performance by Maaz Ali as Hasan, who helps Madolyn fly the plane when they’ve subdued Daryl. Sadly, that’s not enough in a 91-minute film to elevate “Flight Risk” into an action thriller that finds its way far off the ground; its engine often stalls out and sputters when you need it to work.
