
- Starring
- Michelle Dockery, Mark Wahlberg, Topher Grace, Leah Remini
- Written by
- Jared Rosenberg
- Directed by
- Mel Gibson
- Run Time
- 1h 31min
- Release Date
- January 24th, 2025
Overall Score
Rating Summary
Flying can be quite the chore these days, with airports and airlines offering all kinds of chaotic experiences. Of course, there’s only one way to avoid all that hassle: flying private. But unless you have a hefty bank account or a wealthy friend, that dream is unlikely to come true. There are, however, some unconventional ways to skip the madness—like being a wanted man, getting caught, and having to be flown secretly to testify in court. Not an ideal scenario for most of us, but it’s exactly where one of our characters finds himself in Mel Gibson’s first directed film since Hacksaw Ridge. And let me tell you, this is not a smooth flight.
Winston (Topher Grace) isn’t exactly a good guy—or at least not entirely. He works for a bad guy, so by association, that makes him one too. Hiding out in Alaska to escape his boss’s wrath, Winston hopes to avoid getting killed. Unfortunately for him, someone else finds him first. That someone is Madolyn (Michelle Dockery), a U.S. Marshal tasked with bringing Winston in so he can testify against his former employer. Her job is simple: get Winston to New York. But before they can even reach the mainland, she has to transport him to Anchorage.
Enter Daryl (Mark Wahlberg), the chatty pilot of their small charter plane, who is flying Madolyn and her witness safely to their destination. But Daryl isn’t just bad company—he’s a bad guy, hired to kill Winston. What starts as a routine transport quickly devolves into a high-stakes flight full of danger and deception.
Written by Jared Rosenberg, Flight Risk is a tight, efficient story that feels lean but suffers from clunky dialogue, uneven performances, and some questionable choices by its central U.S. Marshal. The film’s confined setting aboard the plane amplifies both the tension and the flaws, letting the awkward dialogue take center stage while also keeping the stakes high, no matter how ludicrous things get. Flight Risk falls into the category of “dumb fun,” and at a brisk 90 minutes, it’s an entertaining distraction from the real world.
Flight Risk is the perfect January movie—a ridiculous yet enjoyable romp that might just be some of the most entertaining stupidity a studio has given us in a while. I use the term “stupidity” fondly, of course, because anytime you can watch Mark Wahlberg go a little unhinged, it’s an opportunity worth indulging in. That said, the performances aren’t exactly standout material. Grace does his usual shtick, Dockery feels underutilized, and Wahlberg’s over-the-top scene-chewing is really the only thing worth noting in terms of acting (if you can call it that).
Flight Risk may not be a good movie, but it’s a good distraction. While the flight gets bumpy at times, the absurdly over-the-top ending might just make it worth boarding this plane again someday.