Mel Gibson tries to return to Hollywood’s good graces with this surprisingly spry and entertaining thriller. Tough U.S. marshal Madolyn (Michelle Dockery) is in the process of extraditing a witness (Topher Grace) from Alaska and together, they hop aboard a small plane flown by a talkative good old boy (Mark Wahlberg). She eventually realizes their pilot is actually a hitman sent to make sure the witness doesn’t testify. He tries to kill them both, but Madolyn is able to subdue him and tie him up. That only leaves one question: Who’s going to land the plane?
Flight Risk is reminiscent of the kind of thriller they used to churn out in the ‘90s on a regular basis. (Most of which, like this one, had hints of the old ‘70s disaster movies.) It more or less plays out in real time in one location, which adds to the suspense. Sure, no one is going to mistake this for Braveheart or Apocalypto, but it’s nice seeing Mel flexing his muscles again behind the camera. If he is indeed going to take the reins of the next Lethal Weapon movie, then this is a positive sign that he can juggle humor and action. I mean we all know he can do Passion of the Christ. It just takes a different skill set to make a three-chord popcorn thriller like this. I was actually surprised how funny the movie was given the fact the lifeless trailers portrayed it as such a dull and one-note kind of flick.
Because of the film’s claustrophobic setting, it needs genuine tension and strong performances to carry it along. Fortunately, it has both. Grace has a couple funny moments, especially when he’s sniveling and trying to talk his way out of trouble. Wahlberg looks like he’s having fun with his receding hairline and local yokel drawl. He gets lots of laughs too, particularly when he’s taunting Grace. Dockery makes for a strong, no-nonsense leading lady. I’m not familiar with her work (she’s mostly known for Downton Abbey), but she equips herself nicely here.
Wahlberg gets the best line when he says, “I made a Jackson Pollack in my pants!”
I loathed Passion of the Christ as did my Christian Scientist mother, can't believe that garbage is getting a sequel(Caviezel sucks as an actor IMO).
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