Dir: Mel Gibson | US Comedy Thriller | 91′
Looking for a high-stakes airborne thriller? This three-hander from Mel Gibson will do the job although it’s a far cry from his brilliant 2006 action drama Apocolypto.
Flight Risk never takes itself too seriously though, managing to be silly as well as entertaining – and even tense at times. The action takes place almost entirely inside a flimsy two-seater aircraft where Mark Wahlberg is a Texan pilot tasked with transporting a crooked accountant and his air marshal across the Alaskan wilderness.
Michelle Dockery and Topher Grace make up the trio as the petty crim and caretaker adding a certain integrity that makes it all watchable, Gibson directing a script from first time writer Jared Rosenberg. .
Wahlberg makes for cheeky gum chewing counterpoint to Dockery’s seriously prim and proper deputy US marshal while the fraudulent taxman is chained to a seat in the back. The trio’s risky journey is full of thrills and high jinks, with danger lurking both in and outside the aircraft, with a fizzing finale that makes up for the rather predictable storyline. @MeredithTaylor
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