Director Mel Gibson seems to have a great working relationship with Mark Walberg. They first appeared in front of the camera together in Daddy’s Home 2, and now after 8 years, the duo reunites this time with Gibson back in the director’s chair in his latest thriller Flight Risk. When you usually think of someone as a “flight risk,” it’s because they are a criminal who wants to get out of the country before trial. However, in this film, the risk itself is getting in a plane about the size of a convertible. Oh, there’s also a hitman on the plane!
Flight Risk begins in a seedy and snowy motel somewhere in the wilderness of Alaska. Here, we are introduced to Winston (Topher Grace). He’s jumpy and looking over his shoulders as he tries to make his Ramen in the microwave. Even a nearby moose startles him. His cause of concern isn’t unwarranted as soon enough US Marshalls led by Agent Harris (Michelle Dockery) burst into his room and take him into custody. Turns out Winston was on the run because he does accounting for the mob. Now in custody and with nowhere to run, Winston has to play ball with the US Marshalls and agree to testify against his former boss. But snitching against the mob isn’t the best retirement plan for someone wanting to get out of that lifestyle.
And Winston and Agent Harris are still in the middle of nowhere Alaska. In order to make it back to New York to testify, they first have to get to “mainland” Alaska, which is only accessible by a small plane. One so small that the plane is no bigger than a small car and barely has room to accommodate 3 people plus cargo. At a nearby airstrip, they meet their pilot Daryl (Mark Wahlberg). Daryl “seems” nice. He has a ridiculous southern accent (the first red flag that’s easy to pick up on) and is trying his best charm effect as he loads the plane with Winston and Agent Harris and their belongings, but soon enough, Winston (and eventually Agent Harris) realizes that something’s “off” with Daryl. Whether it’s the cut marks on his face and neck, or blood on his shirt, he may not be who he appears to be.
Turns out Daryl is a hitman that the mob hired to silence Winston from testifying. Once the cat’s out of the bag in Flight Risk, the film takes some interesting turns. Confining itself to a tiny plane, there really isn’t much of a set in this film, which also limits the action of the movie that follows a repetitive cycle of Daryl being subdued, and then character exposition dumbs between Agent Harris and Winston to get the audience to learn about them and sympathize with them, only for Daryl to break out and everyone have a mini-fight and subdue Daryl once again. After a few times of this, it does get old, but still, is an interesting ride at some moments throughout the film’s hour-and-a-half runtime.
Flight Risk does have good cinematography as the film is either confined to the interior of the plane, or shots of the plane flying through the snowy Alaskan mountains. In fact, Flight Risk almost serves as a great ad for Alaska’s tourism department as there were plenty of times throughout the film when I sat there wondering to myself, “Those mountains are beautiful. I’d love to go skiing there.”
But Flight Risk lives and dies on its three actors and their performances. Topher Grace does his usual “how did I get here” nerd performance he famously did in Predators. But unlike Predators, Topher’s character isn’t the killer here. I almost would have preferred he was as it would have made the film even more interesting. Michelle Dockery does a great job as Agent Harris. The Downton Abbey actress does a great job peeling the layers off of Agent Harris as we get to learn about her tragic backstory as the film progresses. The unsung hero of Flight Risk is Monib Abhat as flight coach Hassan, who pretty much charms Agent Harris into a date if she survives the plane landing. His performance is interesting because it’s 99% just his voice in the film. Towards the end of the film, we finally get to see his face and it’s clear that he and Agent Harris are gonna go on that date.
But we GOTTA talk about Mark Walberg as Daryl!! In Flight Risk, it feels like Mark Walberg is in a completely different movie than the rest of his co-stars. He’s almost trying to act how he thinks The Joker would act in the real world. His character first has a ridiculous southern accent, even though he tells the lie that he’s from Alaska and his family has been there for generations (like I said: red flag!). And his character is obsessed with sex, torture, and rape in a weird way that didn’t seem to fit for the movie. Deciding for Daryl to be a balding (when he gets his toupee ripped off in a struggle), masochistic, rapey, and just plain old weird guy was definitely a choice, but one that didn’t really serve Flight Risk well.
It’s a big surprise that Mel Gibson directed it. Past controversy aside, almost all of the films he directed have been outstanding films. From Braveheart to The Passion of the Christ, to Apocalypto, to Hacksaw Ridge: he’s had a hell of a run in the director’s chair. So, for him to deliver Flight Risk is a little disappointing and it’s not the same quality as his previous films. Perhaps some of the blame can be attributed to writer Jared Rosenberg as the script wasn’t as strong as it should have been. And once again, Walberg’s performance was a little too over the top for what the film was going for. But that doesn’t mean the film is “bad” as there are still highlights scattered throughout the film. As stated before, Monib Abhat really is the MVP of Flight Risk as his character brings charm and levity at just the right moments. Overall, catching a show of this film this weekend may be a fun and rewarding time of some much-needed escapism (especially after this week!).
Flight Risk is now playing in theaters nationwide.
