‘Flight Risk’ Barely Gets off the Runway on a Cliché-Riddled Journey

Flight Risk

★ ★ ½

‘Flight Risk’ is the latest cinematic offering from veteran director Mel Gibson. Despite a promising premise, in which a federal marshall transports a fugitive-turned-witness on an Alaska charter plane only to discover the pilot is a hitman, the story nosedives into campy territory with pedestrian, goofy dialogue and very few surprises.

We first meet Madolyn (Michelle Dockery) as she and a team of marshals bust through the hotel room of mafia fugitive Winston (Topher Grace). Grace is known for his ‘small guy’ wise cracks and he doesn’t hold back here, much to the film’s detriment. He’s profoundly unfunny and it makes for an uninteresting and somewhat unlikeable character. It’s important that we like Winston. We should want to see him survive.

Michelle Dockery as Madolyn
© 2025 Lionsgate

When Madolyn apprehends Winston, he immediately offers to be a witness in exchange for immunity. Three days later, the deal is approved and they board a charter flight to Seattle through the Alaska Range. The pilot is Daryl (Mark Wahlberg), and not long into the flight, we discover he’s there to make sure Winston never reaches his destination.

Winston is important to both Daryl and Madolyn. For her, he’s a key witness against a mob boss. For Daryl he’s a target. Winston is the annoying mouse dangling from a string.

Mark Wahlberg as Daryl
© 2025 Lionsgate

The film’s strong points involve Madolyn. We can easily relate to her and root for her as she tries to keep Winston alive. Wahlberg is convincing as the villain despite the script giving him the standard bad-guy-on-a-plane treatment.

Motivations for the characters are treated at the surface level as the story often defaults to cliché plot and character development. ‘Flight Risk’ offers little more than what we’ve already seen.

Topher Grace as Winston
© 2025 Lionsgate

All this aside, it’s still a moderately entertaining movie. Dockery and Wahlberg are easily the most interesting parts of the film. The Alaska Range, and the perils that await if the plane goes down within it, is a breathtaking cinematic backdrop.

At just over 90 minutes, the movie would have benefited from better character development and a more fleshed-out story.

‘Flight Risk’ isn’t a terrible movie. It’s just a bumpy plane ride through the Alaska Range that eventually, and uneventfully, arrives at its destination.