FLIGHT RISK Review: Thriller Delivers Awkward Jokes, No Thrills

Winston (Topher Grace) sits in a tiny motel room somewhere in Alaska, trying to heat up some ramen, when some strange sound outside disturbs him.

As he looks out the window and sees a badly CGI-ed moose, Winston should probably guess that things are going to go worse from here on out. Soon, the place is swamped by cops and a U.S. Marshal, Madolyn (Michelle Dockery), since Winston is currently on the run because of his previous connection to one particularly bad mafia guy.

Winston wants a deal and is ready to be a cooperative witness, so a few days later Madolyn loads him - in shackles and handcuffs - on a small plane that should take them to Anchorage, where he is expected to fully spill the beans. Their pilot Daryl (Mark Wahlberg) is overly friendly and obsessively chews the gum like it’s 1998, Godzilla is smashing New York City, and he’s Jean Reno, who needs to convincingly pass as an American in order to infiltrate a military post. Neither Madolyn, nor Winston really start to worry that he might not be who he says he is, until the plane is up in the air.

Both on paper and judging by the trailers, director Mel Gibson’s Flight Risk looked like a terrible, yet absolutely wonderful idea, a completely ridiculous but fun thing that doesn’t take itself seriously, an honest guilty pleasure you can’t help but go along for the ride with. Unfortunately, something feels off here from the very beginning, and the movie gives the impression that it doesn’t really know how or in which direction to take itself. It might be that it just got off on the wrong moose, but really, the wobbly CGI is the least improbable thing here.

The very first interaction between Winston and Madolyn showcases the tone Gibson seems to be striving for: an old fashioned irony that forces everyone here, regardless of their established personalities, to try and be a comic relief, and thus, engage in this endless banter that just comes off as extremely awkward. It doesn’t help that the jokes are almost exclusively sex-related, so that by the time another pilot comes through the radio to help Madolyn and immediately starts flirting with her, it is anything but cute. The casual threats of sexual violence that Wahlberg’s fake pilot is constantly spewing also seem grimly misplaced in a film that was supposed to be a bit of silly fun.

The suspense part of the movie doesn’t really fare any better. Sure, the limited space setting has its perks, but it also has its limitations, and Flight Risk hits those limitations hard. With the exception of a couple of action scenes, it is basically theater, where the characters have to resort to phone calls that basically consist of some kind of variation of “oh shit, let me do stuff and call you back”.

Lots of things happen off screen - people die, conspiracy theories get developments - but we are not privy to any of this goodness. Instead, we get multiple shots of Mark Wahlberg with a clumsily fake bald patch creeping up on people. 

The three main actors try carrying this bird on their shoulders, but even their efforts feel somewhat disjointed. Grace and Wahlberg (especially the latter) lean towards camp, while Dockery’s performance is more grounded. For some reason, this actually lowers the stakes; there’s just very little room for doubt in Madolyn’s ability to handle a plane.

Lauren Holly could do it, you know. That guy in Snakes on a Plane who had only ever flown anything in a game before, could do it! Speaking of which, it seems like the refusal to commit to some full-on batshit crazyness might be the most disappointing thing about Flight Risk. And it's not like we're asking for much, but couldn't they at least have that moose hide on a plane and bite someone in the nipple? 

The film is now playing in North American theaters. Visit the official site for more information.