Flight (2012)

Most people think so. 74% of audiences gave it a thumbs up, by Google's archived audience score. Critics agree, scoring it 76%.

Commercial airline pilot Whip Whitaker has a problem with drugs and alcohol, though so far he's managed to complete his flights safely. His luck runs out when a disastrous mechanical malfunction sends his plane hurtling toward the ground. Whip pulls off a miraculous crash-landing that results in only six lives lost. Shaken to the core, Whip vows to get sober -- but when the crash investigation exposes his addiction, he finds himself in an even worse situation. Wikipedia ↗

Flight is a 2012 American drama directed by Robert Zemeckis. Denzel Washington stars as Captain William "Whip" Whitaker, an airline pilot who miraculously saves 96 of 102 passengers when his plane suffers a catastrophic mechanical failure by performing an unprecedented inverted dive maneuver. Hailed as a hero, Whip's life begins to unravel when the investigation reveals he was intoxicated during the flight — legally drunk with cocaine in his system — forcing him to confront his alcoholism while his legal team, led by Don Cheadle, attempts to shield him from criminal charges.

Denzel Washington's performance was a masterwork of denial, charm, and self-destruction — Whip is simultaneously a genuinely skilled pilot whose instincts saved lives and a deeply sick man whose addiction will destroy everything the crash didn't. The opening crash sequence, filmed with practical effects and stomach-churning realism, was one of the most gripping aviation disaster scenes ever filmed. Flight earned $161 million worldwide on a $31 million budget and earned Washington an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.