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Starring:
Jeff Daniels, Anna Paquin, Dana Delany, Terry Kinney Directed
by: Carroll Ballard Written by: Robert Rodat and Vince McKewin
Rated PG Running Time: 1 hour, 50 minutes
Beauty
is simple. I don't believe there is such a thing as complex
beauty. Thus, appreciating true beauty can only be done on
the most simplistic level as well. To fully appreciate something
beautiful, your mind cannot be filled with any other thoughts
or concerns; you have to be completely focused on what you
find beautiful. Appreciating Nature's beauty is the same way.
If you live in the hustle and bustle of the city and want
to "get away from it" for a while, you can take a trip out
into the country, but if you don't "free your mind" from all
your other concerns and worries, then you most likely won't
be able to allow the beautiful and peaceful surroundings to
encompass you and calm you. It takes a mental effort in addition
to a simple change of scenery.
The
reason I say this is to try and express why I think Carroll
Ballard's films work. He's made several films dealing with
nature's beauty, including "The Black Stallion" and "Never
Cry Wolf". He does a couple of things very well. First, he
works closely with his cinematographers to create some of
the most breathtaking shots imaginable. But he is also careful
to not let too much plot get in the way of what is on screen.
Take the plot developments in the opening scene in his latest
film "Fly Away Home": it shows a woman and her daughter driving
at night in a harsh rainstorm. They have an accident, and
the mother ends up dead. So, the daughter (Anna Paquin) has
to live with her father (Jeff Daniels) on a farm in Canada.
Now, this setup can go in a number of different directions,
but Ballard doesn't focus on the familial relationships so
much that it gets in the way of what the movie is really about,
which is a young girl's taking to the skies to show a flock
of geese how to migrate south for the winter.
A
different director might have taken this material and tried
to focus on the relationships and turn it into a big-screen
soap opera. Ballard is smarter than that. He doesn't pile
on the sentiment, as the previews for the movie might make
you think. Instead, he gives us some amazing shots from the
skies showing young Amy leading the geese south. We get TONS
of shots like this, and that's exactly what we SHOULD get.
That's why the movie works.
The
performances work, too. Particularly Jeff Daniels as Amy's
eccentric father. Daniels' is a truly underrated actor. His
body of work ranges from the dramatic ("Terms of Endearment",
"Gettysburg") to the action-packed ("Speed") to the suspenseful
("Arachnophobia") to the utterly outrageous ("Dumb and Dumber").
Here he plays a man who is a true dreamer; a man who decided
to make an exact replica of the Lunar Lander, seeing as though
"the original was left on the moon", he explains. But he's
careful to not let his character turn into a buffoon. He gives
him a low-key credibility, which is necessary for his character
to work. Anna Paquin is good, too, following up her Oscar-winning
performance in "The Piano". She exudes a kind of willful tenacity
which gives the film its strength. And then there are those
spectacular shots showing her incredible journey through the
skies.
Watching
"Fly Away Home", one might very well be reminded of the tragedy
of young Jessica Dubosse, whose plane went down shortly after
takeoff in a harsh thunderstorm, killing her, her instructor,
and her father. I don't know if that will get in the way of
people's enjoyment of this movie, but the film has an interesting
way of dealing with that subject. Amy and her father lead
the geese south, so the geese will not have their wings clipped
and rendered flightless. In a way, that kind of parallels
the issue of young children following their dreams - adults
should love them, protect them, support them, guide them,
help them up when they fall, and show them the way. But they
mustn't "clip their wings" - children will need them to reach
for their dreams.
Copyright
2001 Michael Brendan McLarney Critically
Ill
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