History Film / Flight2012

* ShownTheirWork: The physics of Whitaker's fatal flight are pretty well done, though some ArtisticLicensePhysics was taken to amp up the drama. With his elevators jammed nose-down with broken flight controls, he did pretty much the ONLY thing that would have had a prayer of keeping that plane in the air a short time - ''inverting the plane'', turning nose-down into nose-up. The stuff that should fail in an inverted jumbo jet - like the gravity-assisted oil pumps - indeed fail, causing the engines to overheat and catch fire.

* ShownTheirWork: The physics of Whitaker's fatal flight are pretty well done, though some ArtisticLicensePhysics was taken. His elevators jammed nose-down with broken flight controls, he did pretty much the ONLY thing that would have had a prayer of keeping that plane in the air a short time - ''inverting the plane'', turning nose-down into nose-up. The stuff that should fail in an inverted jumbo jet - like the gravity-assisted oil pumps - indeed fail, causing the engines to overheat and catch fire.

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: The accident was apparently inspired by the 2000 crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261, which was the result of a broken jackscrew. Unfortunately, that crash had no survivors.

* ShownTheirWork: The physics of Whitaker's fatal flight are pretty well done, though some AristicLicense-Physics was taken. His elevators jammed nose-down with broken flight controls, he did pretty much the ONLY thing that would have had a prayer of keeping that plane in the air a short time - ''inverting the plane'', turning nose-down into nose-up. The stuff that should fail in an inverted jumbo jet - like the gravity-assisted oil pumps - indeed fail, causing the engines to overheat and catch fire.

* ShownTheirWork: The physics of Whitaker's fatal flight are pretty well done, though some AristicLicensePhysics was taken. His elevators jammed nose-down with broken flight controls, he did pretty much the ONLY thing that would have had a prayer of keeping that plane in the air a short time - ''inverting the plane'', turning nose-down into nose-up. The stuff that should fail in an inverted jumbo jet - like the gravity-assisted oil pumps - indeed fail, causing the engines to overheat and catch fire.

* AmoralAttorney: Hugh Lang, of the PunchClockVillain variety. He shows a little professional pride in quashing Whitaker's block alcohol test, but otherwise the whole case is simply a job for him. He even backtracks after casually stating to his employer that the two dead flight attendants "don't matter" and explains how he was talking in the sense of the airline not being vulnerable to lawsuits from their families. Notably for an amoral attorney, he openly shows disgust for his client, Captain Whitaker.

A 2012 live-action film directed and co-produced by Creator/RobertZemeckis. ''Flight'' features an ensemble cast including Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Melissa Leo, Bruce Greenwood, Kelly Reilly, and John Goodman.

A 2012 live-action film directed and co-produced by Robert Zemeckis. ''Flight'' features an ensemble cast including Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Melissa Leo, Bruce Greenwood, Kelly Reilly, and John Goodman.

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* NakedOnArrival: Katerina.

* LooselyBasedOnATrueStory: The accident was apparently inspired by the 2000 crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261, which was the result of a broken jackscrew. Unfortunately, that crash had no survivors.

* DrunkenMaster: Verging on BrokenAesop territory. Whip can pull off a maneuver to save his plane that no other pilot can do ''drunk and high''. He can also bluff his way through a government hearing.

* ModestyBedsheet: Denzel Washington in the opening scene. Notable because it is utterly averted, at length, by Nadine Valezquez in the same scene.

* FunctionalAddict: Whitaker

* SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer: Kelly Reilly's character, Nicole Maggen, is minimally featured in the film's advertisements yet plays a major role. John Goodman is prominent but only appears in three short scenes.

* OneSceneWonder: The cancer patient from Utah that Whitaker and Nicole meet in the hospital stairwell.

* AmoralAttorney: Hugh Lang, of the PunchClockVillain variety. He shows a little professional pride in quashing Whitaker's block alcohol test, but otherwise the whole case is simply a job for him. He even backtracks after casually stating to his employer that the two dead flight attendants "don't matter" and explains how he was talking in the sense of the airline not being vulnerable to lawsuits from their families. Notably for an amoral attorney, he openly shows disgust for his client, Captain Whitake.

* OneSceneWonder: The cancer patient from Utah in the hospital stairwell.

* AmoralAttorney: Hugh Lang, of the PunchClockVillain variety. He shows a little professional pride in quashing Whitaker's block alcohol test, but otherwise the whole case is simply a job for him. He even backtracks after casually stating to his employer that the two dead flight attendants "don't matter" and explains how he was talking in the sense of the airline not being vulnerable to lawsuits from their families. Notably for an amoral attorney, he openly shows disgust for his client, Captain Whitake.
* NailedToTheWagon: The night before the NTSB public hearing, his layer and union rep check Whitaker into a hotel room whose mini-bar has been stripped of alcohol. [[Spoiler: Too bad that the interior door to the next room over was accidentally left unlocked]].
* OffTheWagon: Whitaker, repeatedly. [[spoiler: Until it finally sticks in the epilogue]].
* TheScapegoat: Katerina becomes one for Whitaker's defenders, as a way of pinning the blame for the two used vodka bottles in the airplane's trash. Whitaker initially balks at scapegoating a dead woman, especially one he was both romantically involved with and who died while rescuing a child, but eventually agrees to go along with the plan. When asked under oath, he denies drinking the vodka bottles. [[spoiler: But he can't bring himself to lie about Katerina just to save his own skin]].

* OffTheWagon: Whitaker, repeatedly.