- Title: USA: Airplane thriller film "Flight" soars to new heights
- Date: 24th October 2012
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 23, 2012) (REUTERS) ( ** BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPH **) WIDE OF CARPET "FLIGHT" POSTER SIDE OF VIDEO CREW DENZEL WASHINGTON POSING FOR PHOTOS MELISSA LEO TALKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) DENZEL WASHINGTON, "FLIGHT" STAR, ON HIS CHARACTER IN "FLIGHT," SAYING: "He's a good guy. He's got problems like we all do. I don't w
- Embargoed: 8th November 2012 12:00
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- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA56ZPILNFM2769A5PTV0ZPZGNO
- Story Text: Denzel Washington jokes that he learned not to "drink and fly" for his starring role in film "Flight."
Denzel Washington, Robert Zemeckis, and Melissa Leo walked the red carpet for the premiere of "Flight" in Los Angeles on Tuesday (October 23). Washington joked that in addition to the film's theme of addiction; that he learned not to "drink and fly."
The dramatic thriller stars Washington as a pilot who saves nearly everyone on board his airplane with a crash landing after a mid-air catastrophe, but his heroic actions are quickly embroiled in a government investigation after rescue workers discover he'd been drinking the night before the botched flight.
"He's a good guy," said the 57-year-old star on his character in the film. "He's got problems like we all do. I don't want to say he's pathetic or sad, but he's struggling with his addictions."
The film marks director Robert Zemeckis' return to live-action filmmaking after a dozen years spent exploring the world of motion-capture with "The Polar Express," "Beowulf" and "A Christmas Carol." His previous films include "Forrest Gump," "Back to the Future" and "Cast Away."
"What I loved about this story is the complexity of it, and the moral ambiguity of everything, all the characters, every scene, especially Denzel's character, Whip, that he plays," said Zemeckis, when asked what specifically drew him to the story to make him return to live-action directing. "I just loved the fact that it wasn't a typical Hollywood movie, that it was very, very complicated."
Melissa Leo, Bruce Greenwood and Kelly Reilly co-star in "Flight," which lands in U.S. theaters on November 2nd. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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