Above and Beyond

Here is a television mini-series that one wills to be good, but all the wishful thinking in the world can't forgive its flaws. On the plus side, the setting is authentic in terms of greater geographic area and the cast does fairly well despite a sophomoric and uninspired script. Poor Joss Akland does his best although he is badly miscast as Winston Churchill. On the minus side, the film's budget was too low to allow the story to be well told or the period convincingly evoked. There are simply too many historical inaccuracies, too few of the right types of airplanes (and many that are inappropriate), and too much reliance on amateurish and unconvincing computer-generated aerial sequences that serve only to squander credibility. Sadly, the more one knows of history, the less forgivable these failings become.

I should perhaps reserve judgment because I did not see more than a third of Above and Beyond. I turned it off (something I rarely do with aviation films) in utter disgust after a Lockheed Hudson makes a crash landing due to an engine fire. The orchestration of this emergency and its cheesy digital realization were so ludicrously inept that the producers should have fired their technical adviser on the spot. That is, if they even had one. I suspect they didn't because the interior mock-up of the Hudson cockpit entirely lacked a pilot's side window. Hello! All in all, this mini-series was a promising concept that ended up doing a disservice to those who actually organized and performed those transatlantic ferry flights early in World War II. Here was an opportunity -- unfortunately missed -- to make up for Captains of the Clouds, the 1942 Jimmy Cagney film that likewise ends with an unconvincing depiction of Hudsons being ferried from Canada to the United Kingdom.

The subject this film is based upon has no much potential for making a first class, exciting and meaningful product, but here it fails to live up to what might have been. One of my favorite documentaries is "Flying the Secret Sky", dealing also with shuttling desperately needed bombers to England. It features interviews from the actual pilots, while being a documentary I give it a 9, heads above "Above and Beyond" which I rate as a 3. It could have been a good picture but it suffers mightily from HORRIBLE dialogue and abysmal casting. Attempts to build sexual tension between the airport tower controller and the female lead, who left rural Newfoundleand for Montreal, but now she's unhappily forced to return to work closely with her ex steady, fall flat. The way she deals with the ex and with her nasty, uber controlling, mother just seem clumsy and unrealistic. The bratish and very corny dialogue doesn't help. In some ways the screenwriter feels the need to educate the viewer by illustrating the characters quirks over and over, laboriously. as if the audience has an average IQ just above an orange. Lord Beaverbrook is a lecherous old man who likes to hang up on a caller who is begging for clarification in order to carry out an assignment. We get to see him preform the little trick time after time. The RAF project director who is on the opposite end of the phone is as sullen and wooden as a cigar store Indian, a completely unpleasant character. We see Beaverbrook buttoning up after bedding a secretary a bit too often, WE GET IT. The female lead is a pitiful actress who spits out the predicable and simplistic lines like a 3rd grader in a school play, with a bitchiness that doesn't work. Her appearance, this is a 3 hour film after all, is distracting, she is a combination of Olive Oyl. with Clark Gable Asian Elephant ears, playing the role of a sex- tease with is supposed to be drop dead beautiful and unresistable, twisting the boys around her pinkie finger. The part calls for a Julie Roberts-type, we get Popeyes main squeeze, instead. Avoid this little mini-series, the lines will put you in a stuper, the characters are distracting and very unlikable. If you wish to delve into the topic get a copy of Flying The Secret Sky, it's exciting and keeps you glued to the screen, the real life pilots are charming, humble despite their accomplishments having shown extraordinary courage. Because I love flying and I've studied WW II extensively I wanted to like this movie but I found I couldn't just watch it and relax letting myself be entertained. Everyone is PO'ed at each other, their words snotty without a glimmer of wit. If I never see the female lead in another project, I will be grateful. Folks don't quit your day jobs, you'all can't write, direct or act.

That this was definitely not a great production. Although I admit that the story was entertaining and the acting wasn't bad. The computer generated imaging was terrible, and in almost in every scene I could see historical inaccuracies. All in all, a very amateurish production. Here are some factual inaccuracies I found.

• The DC-3 shown was equipped with the wrong engines (modern turboprops), and of course sounded nothing like a DC-3.

• One scene shows a de Havilland Chipmunk trainer in a hangar. There were no Chipmunks in service in 1940; the first one flew in 1946.

• The RCAF ensign with maple leaf roundel was not in use in 1940. Use of the RCAF ensign with the leaf in the roundel wasn't used until 1941. If you saw a flag in 1940 it would have been the RAF ensign.

• The USAAF landed in Gander in a Lancaster bomber. The USAAF did not use Lancasters, and certainly couldn't have been using them in 1940 since they were not yet in active operational service.

• A modern dial tone could be heard during overseas telephone calls between Bennett and Lord Beaverbrook.

I rather enjoyed this movie. The costumes were excellent, the music was fantastic and the acting, if not Oscar worthy, was solid. The actors portraying the Newfoundlanders did themselves credit by portraying down-home, friendly characters in true East Coast style. Liane Balaban, who played Shelagh Emberly, was not great, her delivery lacked any real emotion but she carried herself well and wore the '40s era fashion with style. Richard E. Grant was amazing as Captain Bennett and Joss Ackland brought Churchill to life with vitality. Allan Hawco, who played Nathan Burgess, was a joy to watch, his performance was excellent. All in all it was wonderful to watch a movie about WWII which promoted Canadians and Newfoundlanders and our involvement in the war effort.

This is written after viewing part I. I may not bother with part II. The story is a good one, the creation of Ferry Command in the early, dark years of World War II. But the production is sloppy and melodramatic, peopled with cardboard stereotypes right out of the Hardy Boys and hopelessly contrived situations. The special effects look as though they were done with a Commodorte 64 and there is a huge list of factual errors. For example, BOAC was not formed until after the war. In 1940 it was known as Imperial Airways. There was no such thing as CP Air in 1940. (Canadian Pacific Airlines at that time was a very small regional operation in British Columbia.) The supposedly Montreal homes are obviously in Toronto. Some props (radio equipment, fire extinguishers, thermos bottles, airport tractors and hangars) were blatantly of post war vintage. The portrayals of Churchill and Beaverbrook are reasonably good. The rest is an unfortunate joke. PS/I STAND CORRECTED. BOAC WAS FORMED IN 1940