Flight Risk – Not Worth Boarding This Plane

Besides the wider release of the prestige films of December, January presents as a welcome reprieve. After the heaviness of awards season, it’s nice to just sit back and enjoy some premium grade entertainment. On paper, Flight Risk, appears to be a film that would fit right into that category. Granted, not expecting any sort of subversion, it shaped up to be another dose of silly premium schlock led by a wild and deranged Mark Wahlberg performance with Mel Gibson bringing plenty of edge behind the camera. Though this wasn’t exactly the case here, it is incredibly subversive. However, it is also such a safe and boring film from Gibson and Wahlberg, two names for which one would associate with unhinged and unsavory junk. All of this makes for a something that reeks of being a paycheck film. For Gibson, the severe lack of passion behind every frame is evident from the start, amounting to a film so anonymous that any DTV director could have directed it.

Flight Risk stars Michelle Dockery as Madolyn, a formerly disgraced air marshall given another chance in the field. This chance saw her saddled with the job of accompanying the startlingly annoying Winston (Grace), a witness set to testify at a trial against a powerful crime lord. Their innocuous trip is interrupted when their flight is sabotaged by Daryl (Wahlberg), a pilot who intends to make their trip into their final flight. Gibson’s latest is a simple Hitchcockian thriller in theory; three people are on a plane, and one may not be who he seems, but instead of relishing in this, Gibson’s latest attempts one or two cheap “thrills” before indulging in phone conversations and a drawn out and embarrassing conspiracy plot that only serves to make a relatively short film, clocking in at just over the 90-minute mark, feel much longer.

That being said, the film is not without any positives; Dockery tries to do something with the unfortunate hand she was dealt, especially when she must try and connect with Grace’s Winston, who seemingly does everything in his power to turn audiences off. While Dockery clearly tries to sell the “tense” moments in the film, it is still easy to invest in Madolyn in spite of her stock characterization. Ultimately, the main attraction here is undoubtedly Wahlberg as Daryl and truth be told; he is a lot of fun. Diving into a fun Texan accent, he delivers some fun villain lines before going full Wahlberg. However, the character comes off as a little too restrained while audiences do not get to spend nearly enough time with him. As mentioned, those hoping for a wild and brazen performance will likely leave disappointed. Instead, Gibson and screenwriter Jared Rosenberg merely skate around what many would consider the risky route, opting for a safer approach, making for a quite boring final product.

While not expecting a Hitchcockian thriller by any means, the trailers and promotional material for Flight Risk, essentially tell audiences everything they need to know about this one. The line “Y’all need a pilot” paired with hairpiece Wahlberg is enough reason for excitement in and of itself. However, at the end of the day, those were the only cards it had to play; add to that some poor CGI and last minute twists and the result is a perfectly fine VOD or DTV rental. Unfortunately, this film is not a VOD or DTV release but rather, a wide theatrical release that also happens to be offered with all the premium bells and whistles. Though considering the price these formats usually cost, or even regular movie tickets for that matter, audiences are better served catching another flight, and not boarding this one.

still courtesy of Lionsgate

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Brad Simon

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