Look at them taking risks! (CREDIT: Lionsgate)
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Dockery, Topher Grace
Director: Mel Gibson
Running Time: 91 Minutes
Rating: R for Guns, Knives, and Choking
Release Date: January 24, 2025 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: Deputy U.S. Marshal Madelyn Harris (Michelle Dockery) has found her man! His name’s Winston (Topher Grace), he’s the accountant for the high-profile crime boss Moretti, and he’s hiding out somewhere in the wilds of Alaska, just trying to microwave a cup of soup in peace. But he knows his days outside the grasp of the law are limited, and quite frankly he’s very ready to become a cooperating witness. So Madelyn cuffs him up and charters a private flight from a pilot named Daryl Booth (Mark Wahlberg). But it turns out that Booth isn’t exactly who he says he is. Instead, he’s a hit man sent by Moretti to keep Winston quiet. That’s what we call a Flight Risk!
What Made an Impression?: Autopilot: Flight Risk runs a lean 91 minutes, unfolding more or less in real time. You might think that would make for an edge-of-your-seat, white-knuckle thriller, and I suppose it could be described that way. But more than half of the plot is fairly mellow, or at least as mellow as it can be when you’re thousands of feet up in the air and someone with no pilot experience is forced to navigate the sky. That low-key quality is attributable to the decision to keep the villain unconscious or otherwise incapacitated for most of the film. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; in a way, it’s kind of fascinating how Mel Gibson’s directing and Jared Rosenberg’s script allow us plenty of room to catch our breath. So if you have a heart condition and were worried that you couldn’t handle the stress of a movie like this, well, you might actually be able to give it a chance!
Limiting Stress: The most memorable moment of Flight Risk is surely the reveal that Fake-Booth wears a toupee. It doesn’t have any bearing on the plot and doesn’t reveal anything about his character whatsoever, but I’m glad that it was included because it’s definitely worth the laugh. A significant chunk of the movie operates on that vibe of keeping it light. Dockery spends most of the movie on a headset checking in with her Marshall colleagues, as well as a pilot who’s guiding her through to the landing. Many of these conversations had me thinking, “Are these people aware of the death-defying gravity of this situation?” But I appreciated that they were keeping it light, whether or not it was realistic. And in the case of the pilot, it definitely made sense, as he shamelessly flirts Madelyn to put her at ease and get her through an impossible situation. So weirdly enough, Flight Risk is a breezy, talky hangout flick, which is certainly not what I expected out of a Mel Gibson-directed movie with this premise in 2025, but it’s nice to take little surprises where you can get them.
Flight Risk is Recommended If You Like: Conversations in the sky
Grade: 3 out of 5 Pilots
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