L'envol de Gabrielle

I gave up half way through.

The storylines are too weak and uninteresting.

There is a heavyweight cast, but this could still not compensate despite the attempt to shock.

This film should be called 5 Characters in search of a plot. How on earth the BBC could waste licencepayets money on this rubbish is beyond belief. The fact that this film couldn't find a distributor speaks volumes.

I lasted for 40 minutes but couldn't take any more.

Despite what the blurbs say, the story's focus is a young girl from Grenada traveling to England who wants a pilot's license. The art forgery is a very minor sub-plot. If you like her character, you'll probably like the movie despite the weak story line, but I just couldn't get that interested. I felt I wasted my time watching this.

This movie apparently has two titles: Shades of Fear and Great Moments in Aviation.

Shades of Fear I guess alludes to a kind of mystery that goes on, but I don't recall it being very intense or interesting.

I don't recall anything about aviation, but I read here that apparently someone wants to become a pilot. But it's not very important to the show. The whole show takes place on a ship, btw.

Plus, the cover of the movie doesn't even show the main character, a young black woman. It strikes me as very strange they leave her off.

And the blurb about some art theft is not actually a major plot point.

Really, the movie is a romance. I'm not a fan of great age disparities in couples, but this movie pulls it off. The main character, Gabriel, played by Rakie Ayola, is a ton of fun to watch. Her personality is refreshing and the opposite of stilted.

If the show has any point other than romance, it's as a counterpart to social, stiff-upper-lip norms. Which I guess is why they had the two lesbian missionaries, whose love comes out to each other during the progression of the various minor plots. Otherwise, they seem kind of foisted on the show.

Gabriel is kind of a Pollyanna, spreading her forthright and accepting honesty, backed by humor and quirky fun. There starts to be some feeling of tension as you the viewer wonder if someone will showcase disapproval of some kind. Racism to the girl, antagonism towards a biracial couple, or anti-homosexuality. But there ends up being none of that, despite it being a period piece. Which is very refreshing. Like a glimpse into a world that could be.

Redgrave, Pryce, Tutin and the younger actors all give virtually flawless performances in this somewhat original but unevenly written tale. While the story has some good lines, the suspense does not hold. The marvelous character actors haul the script along. Ms. Ayola as the buoyant, aspiring aviator is particularly compelling. There's a surprising, touching scene between Redgrave and Tutin when they discover that their collegiality has blossomed into love -- Vanessa sensually licking a spoon evokes a laugh. If you think, as I, that films are worth seeing for good performances, this one will not disappoint.