Flight Risk – Fly Home, Mel, You’re Drunk

MOVIE REVIEW – Mark Wahlberg’s latest effort, Flight Risk, flounders so badly that even Mel Gibson seems to have lost interest behind the camera. This airplane-bound thriller, instead of soaring to the heights of the Alaskan peaks where it’s set, crash-lands into the depths of mediocrity. Neither Wahlberg’s nasal, over-the-top portrayal of a psychopathic killer nor Gibson’s sporadic action sequences can salvage this clumsy production.

 

Mark Wahlberg has labeled Flight Risk his first “bad guy role” since 1996’s cult thriller Fear, in which he terrorized Reese Witherspoon’s family after a steamy rollercoaster encounter. On paper, this claim might hold water, but in spirit, it feels shaky. One of Wahlberg’s strongest acting traits—besides his surprising knack for playing lovable, bumbling characters—is the barely suppressed darkness that lurks beneath his performances.

There’s a calculating coldness to him that suggests the characters he plays were either villains in the past or will be again in the future, even when cast as the hero. Wahlberg is a natural antagonist, yet Hollywood has somehow managed to market him as a wholesome leading man. His role as a nameless assassin in Flight Risk is easily the best part of this disjointed film—though that isn’t saying much.

 

 

Pilot or Killer?

 

Wahlberg’s character introduces himself as Daryl Booth—but, of course, that isn’t his real name. He’s a cold-blooded assassin posing as a charter pilot tasked with flying U.S. Marshal Madelyn Harris (Michelle Dockery) and her prisoner, Winston (Topher Grace), a mob accountant, across the Alaskan wilderness to Anchorage. Daryl dons the standard killer uniform: a backward baseball cap and a put-on folksy accent. Yet it’s obvious from the outset that something is deeply off about him. Even before Winston uncovers a pilot’s license with someone else’s face on it, Madelyn’s instincts kick in—perhaps it’s the cut on Daryl’s neck or his suspiciously detailed knowledge of their route without being briefed.

The real giveaway, though, is Wahlberg’s performance. His “nasally” delivery dominates every scene, overshadowing even the narrative itself. Before the accent drops and the film reveals his balding head beneath the cap—treated as an odd character flaw—Daryl leads with his nostrils. As his character spirals into full-blown psychopathy, Wahlberg’s rage and intensity emanate almost entirely through flared nostrils and snorts, like a bull gearing up to charge. It’s absurdly over-the-top, but it somehow works—if only for the grotesque charm of it all.

 

 

Mel Gibson Can’t Hold the Controls

 

Flight Risk is directed by Mel Gibson, whose name, paired with Wahlberg’s, might immediately suggest a covertly conservative, politically charged project. In reality, it’s nothing more than a soulless work-for-hire job based on a script by Jared Rosenberg. The film is a textbook example of a “dusty-drawer screenplay project”—a high-concept idea boiled down to a skeletal, 90-minute narrative set almost entirely inside Daryl’s Cessna.

The screenplay is so weak it’s hard to fathom anyone seriously backing its production. While the story unfolds in near-real time, it struggles to maintain tension during the long, uneventful stretches when Daryl is subdued, and Madelyn is left struggling to pilot the plane—both literally and metaphorically. Topher Grace does his usual “chatty nerd” shtick, straddling the line between sarcasm and panic. Meanwhile, Michelle Dockery’s Madelyn makes a series of increasingly irrational decisions, seemingly designed solely to keep the plot’s implausible twists alive.

 

 

A Turbulent Thriller That Crashes and Burns

 

Flight Risk is a dumb movie, but that’s not its cardinal sin. Its real problem is that it’s not the fun kind of dumb—the kind where the filmmakers lean wholeheartedly into the absurdity of the premise. Instead, it’s a lazy, uninspired attempt that even wastes Mel Gibson’s directorial talents—despite his controversies, one of the finest action filmmakers of his generation.

While the story unfolds above breathtaking mountain vistas, the film never looks better than in its opening sequence, where Winston hides out in a snow-covered, rundown motel until Madelyn and her team burst in. Beyond that, confined to the tight quarters of a small plane, Gibson seems bored, unable to inject much energy into the sporadic bursts of action that punctuate the sluggish dialogue—though he does manage some gnarly moments involving an escape from handcuffs.

Ultimately, Flight Risk doesn’t so much build to a climax as it fizzles out with a lame ellipsis, like a joke falling flat and the teller pretending they weren’t trying to be funny. It’s a chaotic mess of a movie, and even Wahlberg’s furious sniffling can’t save it.

-Gergely Herpai „BadSector”-

 

Flight Risk

Direction - 3.2
Actors - 3.1
Story - 2.4
Visuals/Music/Sounds/Action - 4.5
Ambience - 3.4

3.3

BAD

Flight Risk is a textbook example of how an intriguing premise can be derailed by absurd creative choices and a weak script. Not even Wahlberg’s over-the-top performance or Gibson’s occasional flashes of brilliance can rescue this illogical, occasionally cringeworthy production. Recommended only for diehard fans—with major reservations.

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BadSector is a seasoned journalist for more than twenty years. He communicates in English, Hungarian and French. He worked for several gaming magazines - including the Hungarian GameStar, where he worked 8 years as editor. (For our office address, email and phone number check out our impressum)

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