Fliegende Herzen

A sugary water novel, with the pigeons differential, after all, I had never seen any that dealt with the theme, Pigeon racing, which is the breeding of racing pigeons for competition... A charlatan protagonist, but with a happy ending...

I kind of liked the movie. Jamie Dornan was okay, but it wasn't his best. The Belgian actors were great, they really picked out the best ones. But their accents bothered me a little. (I'm not judging, I'm Belgian too). What did kind of bother me was that it was a little phony. You kind of knew what would happen and how it would end. It could have been cute if the film was a little more exciting. But nevertheless, I am proud of the Belgian director and those who all participated in this movie. It was surprising that they could find such a "famous' (American) actor for the film.

All together, I would say watch this movie and see for yourself. Some people will like it more then I do, I am sure.

First I must say something very rude - Isabelle Pauwels (Charlotte De Bruyne) is not much to look at and I didn't believe for a minute that Colin (Jamie Dornan) would have been remotely interested in her. Here we have a NYC high finance hunk suddenly falling head over heals for a simple country girl in Belgium.

Then the old folks and those pigeons!! And a billionaire middle eastern guy that must have the prized pigeon. Fony baloney crap! Not believable at all. AND who couldn't figure out that the prized pigeon would fly home?? Every character came across as just a bit to simple and the pigeon was the only smart one in the whole group.

The WW1 connection was so loosely injected into the story it was a laff!!

I just watched this movie.I found myself binge watching The Fall and I quite enjoyed Jamie Dornan's performance there, so I decided to have a look at the rest of his work,after having watched FSOG.The movie was much better than I had expected,bearing in mind that the whole pigeon racing sounded a bit boring.It was corny I guess but again,you know that you are about to watch a romantic movie so many things can be excused I suppose.I found his performance decent and pretty acceptable and the way he coloured his characher proves that he definitely has acting skills.The photography was excellent,the rest of the cast was great as well so..If you are looking for an OK movie to spend your time and at the same time admire the looks of the main lead..there you have it!

Flying Home (also known as Racing Hearts) is a charming love story that wins your heart. It's shy. It doesn't scream at you with special effects or violence or profanity or prurient sex scenes. It takes place in an area of Belgium most Americans don't know a lot about and in the world of pigeon racing. Flanders and doves. It's safe to say you haven't been inundated with movies about Flanders and doves. Give Flying Home a chance.

Colin (Jamie Dornan) is a hedge-fund hot-shot who sets out to buy a bird worth 300,000 euros on behalf of an Arab dove fancier. He finds himself in a small village in Flanders among a group of dove racing aficionados and is drawn into their world with the help of a local college student and a search for the grave of his British great-grandfather. His great-grandfather, like half a million young British soldiers, died in Flanders in World War 1.

Dornan does some subtle acting here. Colin pretends to be a high school teacher so as to hide his motive for being in Flanders. His character is acting and Dornan layers his performance. A lot of it is in his eyes. Colin's authenticity does surface, especially when he's with college student Isabel. The scene where Colin and Isabel are dancing is a beautiful study of a man who is struggling with conflicting feelings. It's tricky and I have to say Dornan nails it. If you are looking for an over-actor, Dornan is not your man. He's excellent at slowly revealing the facets of Colin.

Isabel is played by Flemish actress Charlotte De Bruyne. Isabel is open and direct. It's clear she likes Colin but she is not aggressive at all. She's lovely and De Bruyne is winsome in the role. It's easy to see why Colin would be drawn to Isabel, especially when you compare her to the NYC women he knows.

The Flemish actors who play the village characters are all skilled and their Flemish accented English adds a lot to the atmosphere developed by the movie. The characters are not twee at all. They are individuals and for that you can thank the writer/director Dominique Deruddere. He knows how to write characters and he knows how to tell a story.

Keep in mind the plot sometimes hinges on unseen action. Because of this and because the world and language (there are a few subtitled passages) of Flying Home are not so familiar to us, you have to give Flying Home your full attention. Do it. You'll be rewarded with a little gem of a movie.