Mel Gibson takes a soaring swing with his return to directing, crafting a film unlike anything he’s done before and it’s too it’s detriment. Even a maniacal Mark Wahlberg can’t save this flight from predictable turbulence. 

 

Wahlberg’s performance is pure chaos when it desires to be. There is an untamed anger and relentlessness in his eyes upon his reveal, something that plays a key role into the unease at 3,000 feet. Wahlberg is quite literally strapped to the background for a large chunk of the film, and his insanity could have better assisted with some of the duller moments throughout. Instead the audience is given short bursts with Wahlberg off the leash and a graphic intensity toward the climax that is met with a mediocre end.  

 

While Wahlberg is the true highlight of a very limited cast of characters, Michelle Dockery delivers a fine performance - playing an American, attempting to hide her British accent after years of living in Downton Abbey. Dockery and Wahlberg have some fair exchanges, as well as a few good hits along the way, but it’s Topher Grace’s witness, Winston (“Winnie”) where things spiral slightly. 

 

Gibson starts the film off on a joke and the humor does not land whatsoever. It's a lazy excuse for humor and to be entirely honest could’ve been scrapped entirely. Once on the plane itself, the film kicks into high gear, apart from a few poor jokes from Grace upon takeoff. When the discovery is made, as is shown in the trailer the film turns a corner and the thrills commence. 

 

The thrills however come and go so rapidly that the task of navigating and landing the plane is a bore of sorts. There’s a “humorous” pilot instructing over the satellite phone how to fly the plane and a consistent romantic push that manages to be just as fake as Wahlberg’s bald head. 

 

There are twists and turns to be had within Flight Risk, but they have little backing beyond some disgruntled voices over a phone. There are so many loose ends by the film’s climax that it’s almost cause to believe this was a first draft put to screen. There’s a high alert for a member of Winston’s family that nothing comes of, taunting that builds nowhere and a twist that offers more of a shrug than a fulfilling surprise. 

 

Flight Risk hardly takes any of its namesake (risks), leaving a 90-minute contained thriller full of inconsistent ideas and barebones payoff. The film may not be a crash landing for Gibson’s directorial résumé, but it certainly knocks some turbulence into his Awards riddled catalogue.