Flight Risk: A Bumpy Ride that Barely Gets Off the Runway

By Thom Ernst

Rating: B-

In one of several meta moments in Flight Risk, Winston (Topher Grace), an accountant about to turn state’s evidence against an international crime lord, quips, “Will there be entertainment on this flight?” It’s too early in the film to answer this rhetorical question, but by the time the credits roll, the response is an unequivocal “meh.”

Winston is the comic relief in this conventional airplane survival thriller that sputters rather than soars. Flight Risk is entertaining enough that the risk of flight isn’t likely to come from the audience, who will probably stick around to see how things unfold. The actual flight risk is Winston, and while I admire Grace's efforts to make his character vulnerable and endearing, it would have been better for everyone if they had let him run.

Grace is the first casualty of a script undermined by its earnest attempts to be liked. Grace struggles to find a balance between snivelling coward and likable miscreant—a good person in a bad situation. The script gets off to a bumpy start in its effort to ingratiate itself through jokey stabs at comedy, primarily relying on Grace’s harmless persona. He is tasked with oscillating between irritatingly irreverent and a comical hyperbole better suited to actors with a broader comedic range.

Flight Risk is a curiously confined take on the action/survival genre. Most of the film takes place inside a two-seater cargo plane, without cutaways to highlight tense moments in airport control towers or U.S. Marshal headquarters. For those who remember, Airport ’75 depicted this scenario more effectively, featuring the late Karen Black as the unlikely hero in the pilot’s seat.

While Airport ’75 may seem dated and campy, Flight Risk is only dated without the camp. A lot is packed into a limited space during this 75-minute flight to Anchorage (the film runs longer than the actual flight), but the plot has as much sustenance as an inflight meal — unless you opt for the fish.

Mel Gibson directs what is fundamentally a three-hander, infused with voice-only characters intended to create a world beyond the cargo plane. Despite these unseen characters making significant, game-changing contributions to the plot, there remains excessive pressure on the three central characters to ensure the story takes flight.

There’s an unflappable Federal Marshal, a psychotic killer, and a grumbling neurotic prisoner who enjoys the sound of his own jokes. Each board the plane with their emotional baggage — symbolically, of course. In this story, one character is unaware of their demons, one battles their demons, and one joyfully embraces their demons.

Marshall Madelyn Harris (Michelle Dockery) is a hard-nosed bureaucrat facing incredible male toxicity. But Marshall Harris is no one’s fool and won’t crumble in adversity. Yet, when a charming voice shamelessly flirts over the airwaves, Harris inexplicably — perhaps unconscionably — falls into giggly adoration. It’s a stunning lapse in character.

Then there is the pilot, portrayed by Mark Wahlberg. This isn’t the first time Wahlberg has played a villain in a film; his performance as a teenage stalker in Fear (1996) is an underrated thriller that showcases his talent to be more than the heroic, nice guy.

Wahlberg is more capable than the film’s dialogue allows. His character, who at one point resembles a stocky Ron Howard, is indeed vicious, but his role mainly consists of issuing sexual threats to both Winston and the Marshall.

While there are a few twists in the film, much like the certainty of a flight delay, none arrive unexpectedly.

Nevertheless, there are stunning vistas of Alaska's barren icescape and a few standout special effects. Yet a spectacular view and some clever dialogue aren’t sufficient to help Flight Risk — a film that barely leaves the runway — achieve a confident landing.

Flight Risk. Directed by Mel Gibson. Starring Michelle Dockery, Topher Grace and Mark Wahlberg. In select theatres January 24.