There are some other great elements in Flight: a riveting opening scene with a stricken plane gliding upside down as it prepares to crash land; Denzel Washington’s bloated look and riveting eyes as Captain Whip Whitaker; Don Cheadle’s as a hired-gun attorney trying to hide the truth; comic relief from John Goodman as a gregarious drug dealer; exceptional moments as Whitaker encounters other physically and emotionally damaged characters; and gratuitous nudity from the gorgeous Nadine Velazquez as a flight attendant with whom Whitaker has an affair.

But Flight never quite rises above the obstacles inherent in John Gatins’ well-meaning script.

The action sequence is so good that the rest of the movie struggles to live up to it.

Captain Whitaker’s various jumps on and off the wagon become predictable, almost routine. He seems like a decent man at heart, but we mostly see him acting like a jerk. Sympathy wears pretty thin when the character flaws are so obvious.

Kelly Reilly seems too flat and uninteresting to be convincing as Whitaker’s emerging love interest Nicole.

The film has two spots that seemed appropriate for endings, but it plods on to a third. We know there’s going to be some redemption (it’s Denzel Washington, after all) but we don’t need to see it happen over and over again.

Goodman has always seemed larger than life — and I don’t mean that as a pun about his weight. He’s a big guy, but we all know plenty of big guys who don’t have the charisma that Goodman has.

What a great presence.

Goodman was honored just after Flight screenwriter John Gatins was given the annual Spotlight Award. Goodman has a relatively small role in Flight, which was screened after the brief presentations. I might have more to say about the film in an upcoming post.

I was struck in Goodman’s brief remarks by his emphasis on the collaborative aspects of filmmaking. “I can’t do this by myself,” Goodman said.

“I stand on the shoulders of many people.”

In the Q&A after the screening, Goodman praised Gatins (“I’d never read anything like it”) and director Robert Zemeckis (“I’m astounded at his total command of everything”).

But Goodman did not seem in a mood to elaborate much. He made clear, direct statements and finished his brief acceptance remarks with a flourish from The Big Lebowski: “Walter Sobchak said it best: ‘Fuck it, Dude, let’s go bowling.'”

Nothing wrong with the occasional F-bomb from the Trustees Theater stage.

Click here for brief clips of the Savannah Morning News’ Linda Sickler interviewing Goodman and Gatins.