Movie Review: Flight Risk (2025)

Synopsis: After spending time behind a desk because of a mistake that led to a witness death, U. S. Marshal Madolyn Harris is given a second chance, this time escorting a crime boss accountant, Winston, from his hiding spot in Alaska so he can testify against his former boss in New York. However, while flying to Anchorage on a small charter plane, Madolyn learns her pilot, Daryl Booth, is really an assassin hired to make sure Winston doesn't make it to New York.

Who's in it? The movie stars Michelle Dockery, Mark Wahlberg, Topher Grace, Maaz Ali and Leah Remini.

Review: My 15-year-old daughter is performing in a community theater version of Guys and Dolls this weekend and the final rehearsals have been taking until 11 p.m. Since we needed to wait up anyway last night as a result of that, my wife and I wound up finding a movie to watch and settled on Flight Risk.

I didn't know anything about this movie before coming across it on Starz and wasn't sure what to expect from it as a result. However, this Mel Gibson-directed film ended up being a solid choice.

I think the thing I liked best about this film was the near-impossible situation Madolyn (Dockery) found herself in. They were airborne in a plane over the wilderness of Alaska with no GPS and no radio signal and the only person who knew how to fly a plane was Daryl (Wahlberg) who was both a killer and someone who seemed just insane enough to not care if the plane crashed with him on board. On top of it, she needed to make sure Winston (Grace) wasn't killed in the process.

The movie also created a lot of uncertainties. Daryl was relentless, finding a way to cause problems even when it seemed like Madolyn had gained the upper hand and had him subdued. The fact Daryl both knew about the transport and various details about Winston's family and Madolyn's checkered past meant someone within the U. S. Marshal's office wasn't on her side, making it difficult to know who she could trust.

Oh, and there was the whole thing about Madolyn, who was not trained as a pilot, needing to both fly and land an airplane that was still lost and quickly running out of fuel.

My wife told me she wasn't a huge fan of the radio conversations with the various other off-screen characters because they didn't feel real. However, my biggest complaint about the movie, ironically, was Madolyn.

Simply put, the movie didn't convince me she was even remotely competent for the job. The main plot doesn't even happen if she bothers to check the pilot's identification before getting in the air with him (something that feels like should be a standard precaution). Plus, while she remained insistent about leaving Winston in chains, even as things were going south and he had no incentive to try to escape her custody, she barely made an effort to secure Daryl when given the opportunity, leaving in him reasonably escapable situations.

In fact, there were times when I was starting to wonder if she was secretly working with Daryl. This included when he was making plenty of noise while trying to cut through his restraints only to have Madolyn not bother to check on him or even seem to notice. Frankly, Winston not dying minutes into the flight was more about Daryl wanting to take his time and enjoy himself than anything Madolyn did and that was a bit disappointing. I mean, who wants a hero who is just lucky?

Final Opinion: The movie needs the main protagonist to be more than a little incompetent at her job to work. However, the strong acting by the three main stars and the seemingly impossible situation did make the film watchable and we did enjoy watching it.

My Grade: B

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