Flight Risk
Three people in a plane come to blows in Mel Gibson’s intense, well-crafted thriller.
Mayday mayhem: Michelle Dockery
Image courtesy of Lionsgate UK.
As a director, Mel Gibson has brought us some pretty large-scale, hard-hitting epics, notably Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ, Apocalypto and Hacksaw Ridge. It’s a change of pace, then, to tackle something so intimate, albeit just as brutal. Recalling such pocket-size dramas as Locke and All is Lost, Flight Risk might not boast the credibility of those two works, but it still delivers with knobs on. The flight in question is aboard a small charter plane (“a kite with seatbelts”) carrying a US Marshal and a “cooperating government witness.” And then there’s the pilot, a cocky, rough-and-ready Alaskan delivered with unrestrained punch by Mark Wahlberg as we’ve never seen him before.
Essentially, the flight is a ninety-minute journey from a dead-end town in Alaska to Anchorage, across a panoramic view of snow-encrusted mountains. But it’s what happens on board that contains the essence of the drama, as the three protagonists disclose various aspects of their respective agendas. Winston, a white-collar accountant for a nefarious cartel, is the witness in handcuffs, played with mounting desperation by Topher Grace, who attempts to inject some feeble humour into the proceedings. The real star is Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary Crawley in Downton Abbey), the Marshal forced to draw on all her reserves of strength and ingenuity under impossible odds. This is a massive role for the Essex-born actress, who brings a muscular presence to a character we rightly root for from the get-go. She is the heart and brains of the movie, which she makes entirely her own.
The sort of thriller that the tabloids might call “a white-knuckle ride,” Flight Risk delivers on all fronts, tossing in twists and unexpected turns in almost real time (the film is just 91 minutes). While much of the action strains against probability, Gibson contains the drama well enough to keep us on the edge of our seats. With the addition of assorted off-screen voices, the plot unfolds with increasing hysteria as the journey attempts to reach its bumpy conclusion. It is to Gibson’s credit that he has shepherded such absorbing performances, with Wahlberg in particular tapping into a demonic energy reminiscent of Jack Nicholson at his most fearsome. It’s popcorn entertainment, but it’s pulled off with an economy and intensity that should satisfy fans of such violent, buttock-clenching escapism.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Dockery, Topher Grace, and the voices of Leah Remini, Monib Abhat, Paul Ben-Victor, Eilise Guilfoyle.
Dir Mel Gibson, Pro John Davis, John Fox, Bruce Davey and Mel Gibson, Screenplay Jared Rosenberg, Ph Johnny Derango, Pro Des David Meyer, Ed Steven Rosenblum, Music Antônio Pinto, Costumes Kristen Kopp, Sound Kami Asgar.
Icon Productions/Davis Entertainment Company/Hammerstone Studios/Media Capital Technologies-Lionsgate.
91 mins. USA. 2024. UK and US Rel: 24 January 2025. Cert. 15.
