FLY AWAY HOME
A film review by Scott Renshaw
Copyright 1996 Scott Renshaw
(Columbia) Starring: Anna Paquin, Jeff Daniels, Dana Delany, Terry Kinney. Screenplay: Robert Rodat, Vince McKewen. Producers: John Veitch, Carol Baum. Director: Carroll Ballard. Running Time: 106 minutes. MPAA Rating: PG (slight profanity) Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.
You will not find many family films which radiate the fundamental warmth and decency that FLY AWAY HOME does, and somehow that makes it more disappointing that it is not a better film. It is a story with an agreeably casual demeanor, positive messages to spare, and virtually nothing which could give offense (except for a pair of gratuitous profanities included in a calculated effort to avoid a "G" rating). Yet FLY AWAY HOME rarely manages to make the leap from agreeable to genuinely involving. In an era where most films seem to be striving to deafen you, FLY AWAY HOME is a film so soft-spoken it may cause a run on the theater's assisted listening devices.
Based on a true story, FLY AWAY HOME tells of 13-year-old Amy Alden (Anna Paquin), a child of divorce who returns to live in Ontario with her father Tom (Jeff Daniels) after the death of her mother. The two have trouble re-connecting after a decade apart, leaving Amy rather lonely. She finds unexpected companionship after she discovers a goose nest orphaned after a tractor plows through, and she cares for the eggs until they hatch. The result is a dozen goslings who imprint on Amy, believing her to be their mother. The problem is that the geese will need someone to teach them their southward migration route, leading artist and inventor Tom to consider a unique solution: teach Amy to fly an ultra-light aircraft so that she can guide her geese to their winter home in North Carolina.
I don't think that anyone will argue that the first half of FLY AWAY HOME is not simply lovely. Director Carroll Ballard (THE BLACK STALLION) inspires confidence in where he is likely to take us with a a credit sequence in which the car accident which claims the life of Amy's mother (after this film and BOGUS in consecutive weeks, will any child be willing to let his mother drive again?) is given a mournful weight. The sparkling cinematography, by the gifted Caleb Deschanel, and Mark Isham's multi-faceted score contribute to the charming scenes of Amy bonding with her flock, and clever low-angle shots make them more comical.
As sweet and unassuming as those scenes are, it soon becomes clear that there isn't much going on beneath the surface of FLY AWAY HOME. On the one hand, it is refreshing that we are not beaten over the head with the metaphorical significance of Amy's attachment to her avian orphans, or with weepy professions of father-daughter love after the obligatory period of estrangement. On the other hand, Robert Rodat and Vince McKewen don't give their characters enough substance, and the nominal family drama of FLY AWAY home is muted by the absence of enough early scenes showing us Amy's difficulty adjusting to her new circumstances. Amy tells us that school was terrible, but we don't see her experiencing any troubles; Tom pays little attention to her, but we don't see how that affects her. Jeff Daniels, Dana Delany (as Tom's girlfriend) and Terry Kinney (as Tom's brother) all do perfectly nice work, but the characters lack spark, and the story lacks the drama to accommodate their one-dimensional benevolence. It is almost as though Anna Paquin, still possessing the spooky detachment of THE PIANO even with the nose ring she sports in the film's second half, infects the entire production with her preternatural serenity.
The first half of the film does include a nominal villain, a fish and game warden (Jeremy Ratchford) who is made into a nastier character than he needed to be when he threatens the geese with pinioning; the second half tries to make up for the lack of conflict by including a handful of potential heavies, including sport hunters, real estate developers, and even the U. S. military. There are some fanciful moments during that flight, including Amy's late-night surprise at a military airfield, but other episodes serve little purpose, and the film drags a bit as it approaches its conclusion. None of this is likely to matter tremendously to young viewers, who will enjoy the adorable geese, and their parents, who will welcome the fundamental warmth and decency which they haven't seen nearly enough of. I just couldn't help wishing that FLY AWAY HOME, although it was based on a true story, had been pitched a bit less like a matter-of-fact documentary and allowed the conflict between Amy and Tom to matter a bit more. On the one occasion where Amy actually raises her voice, it is quite startling. Perhaps a few more voices could have been raised.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 feathers and daughters: 6.
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