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Not since 2000's Cast Away has Alan Silvestri not scored a harrowing plane crash in a Robert Zemeckis film. In Flight, the new Zemeckis drama starring Denzel Washington as a destructively alcoholic airline pilot, Silvestri gets to sit in the wings during another crash sequence so intense that not only will you leave scratch marks in your theater armrest—you won't even notice the absence of music.

There are, in fact, several similarities in the two films. In both, Silvestri opts to leave long sections unscored, letting the dialogue or activity in many scenes breathe in silence (or allowing pop songs to do the work). What remains is a fragile, spare score based on a simple theme for Washington's character on appropriately isolated solo piano, and a lovely orchestral climax that (like Cast Away) is announced by solo oboe. Flight is Silvestri in a reserved, introspective mood, and it's as beautiful as you would imagine.