Posted by
Emmett of the Unblinking Eye on Monday, September 18, 2006 8:11:51 PM
Okay, I admit it, I'm an old sap. I stated watching old movies, I still watch old movies, and I find a charm in old movies that is, frankly, lost in much of what is produced and released today. Much of the current cinema is form over substance, picture over plot, charisma over character. And I miss the old style.
Which may be one of the reasons why I liked
Flyboys as much as I did. At the kind invitation of
Pete Weitzner, head of Chapman University's TV and Broadcast Journalism Department at its Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, I attended a screening last week at its magnificent 500 seat stadium-style theater, followed by a panel discussion with its producer (Dean Devlin), its director (Tony Bill) and its writer (David S. Ward). Now, candidly, when the movie began I was more than a little concerned. The standard this-is-how-we-get-the-boys-together sequence did not bode well for the rest of the movie. And as the movie rolled along, it seemed that the romance between James Franco and Jennifer Decker added nothing to the story and simply served to stretch the film out to its 127 minute length, rather than to add anything substantive to the mix. And the depiction of the one overtly Christian character is, frankly, more than a trifle offensive.
But by the time Flyboys wings its way to its ending -- and it is one of the most unique and imaginative, and least contrived, endings of any movie in a long time (or at least since
Crank) -- I found it to be one of the most involving, entertaining and honest movies I've seen in some time. Because it was made without studio influence or money, the writer, producer and director could make the kind of movie they wanted, not the kind that the studios want you to want, and could make it as true to the real-life Escadrille as dramatic license will allow. The film was shot in only 50 days, and every cent they spent appears right on the screen. Using a group of young, talented, generally unknown actors (except for Franco and the inimitable
Jean Reno) rather than "stars" allowed them to focus their funds where they belonged -- on the dogfights and the planes. While the movie is far from perfect, and there are parts that will make many viewers groan,
Flyboys remains a stirring epic with a unique and unexpected ending, and spectacular special effects. And it's suitable for the whole family, although the flying scenes may scare younger viewers.