From the award winning director of "Braveheart", "Apocalypto" and "Hacksaw Ridge" comes an edge of your economy plane seat thriller shot almost entirely in a small private plane and I'm not talking Rap-star Private Jet with Crystal on tap...this is basic transportation for a felon on a one way ticket from Alaska to one of the other 49 states in the US.
Director Mel Gibson manages to get a very tight (around 90 minutes) feature length film off the ground in "Flight Risk" for under $30 million budget...chicken feed in La La Land.
It's basically a three hander also starring Mark Wahlburg as "Daryl" whose idea was to have the pilot be bald so his appearance is uncannily like that of the BTK serial killer Dennis Rader, who's still behind bars.
"Flight Rik" is the first movie in which Wahlberg plays a villain since the excellent "Fear", in 1996.
The American actor puts in a solid performance that uses his Oscar nominated skills and his comedic timing to create a terrifying character.
Also on board this nightmare flight is Air Marshal "Madolyn"(Michelle Dockery).
You get the feeling the role would have been played by Julianne Moore if filmed a decade ago.
"That 70's Show" guy Topher Grace is the third wheel as the fugitive "Winston" (my late Uncle's name) on his way to testify at trial against an influential mobster.
Listen out for: Leigh Remini ("Kings of Queen") as she voices the unseen "Van Sant" and Paul Ben-Victor as "Coleridge", both disembodied law enforcement superiors on the mobile satellite phone.
Congratulations to writer Jared. Rosenberg on creating a reasonably fresh idea that hasn't been raked over the Hollywood coals too many times.
"Flight Risk" is a high stakes, suspense thriller that explores "trust" and "corruption" so by the end you don't know who to trust.
