Within the first minute of the movie, Denzel Washington's character of Captain Whip Whitaker, drinks some beer, smokes a cigarette and snorts a line of cocaine - and he hasn't even got out of bed yet.
In one sense, this is a movie about addiction, the lies addicts tell themselves, and the very hard and difficult road to beating addiction. But it is also a movie that asks a fundamentally difficult question - if an addict is fully functional in being able to deliver what they need to deliver (and in the case of the movie, actually do something that almost everybody else cannot do) - should they be stigmatised as addicts?
Denzel Washington delivers a brilliant performance; and well supported by a wide range of great performances. Although the pace is a bit slow in the middle, it is a great story, and very worthwhile watching.
