Flying Lessons

I rarely would give 1 out of 10 to any movie but this one barely makes a 1.

Deadly slow moving, overly sappy and sentimental with unlikable characters, with the possible exception of Hal Holbrook's character "Harry Pleasant". Sophie Conway (Maggie Grace of "taken" fame) plays a snotty little self-centered disrespectful brat. Her character's mother was equally as snotty and self centered who is dating a disgustingly poor excuse for a man. Sophie's main love interest (there were more than one) was a one-dimensional dull wimp.

In other words, it's difficult to like a movie when there's not one likable character in the bunch (other than Harry Pleasant).

The plot (if you can call it that) was so slow and plodding, just making it to the end without falling asleep was a challenge.

This was apparently a made-for-TV or a Direct-to-DVD production, not even worthy of its own hyper-link on Maggie Grace's Wikipedia filmography page. (Speaking of whom, Ms. Grace is a "one trick pony" and plays essentially the same character in any movie she is in. She did not disappoint this time around in that respect.)

No spoiler alert here, other than this movie was a real stinker.

Our beautiful and eternal Shannon, miss you... A good film, a little dragged and full of mysteries about the protagonist's hurts, and the past of the rest, but the outcome, despite the cliché, is worth it, the romance was a little weak, track beautiful and suffering sound...

Bad in nearly every way. An utter waste of good actors. They do their best, but the script, the plot, the characterizations, and the dialogue are so appallingly bad I can't imagine who green-lighted this. It's a mystery concerning why the lead actress (lovely and charismatic) is promiscuous and a drug addict (unsavory in the extreme, with nothing to redeem it)- what went wrong with her relationship with her mother, former boyfriend, best friend, etc? The answers, such as they are, are slow in coming (the pacing is GLACIAL) and the woeful lack of chemistry between the lead and her lost love is a crime. And as an aside, the depiction of alzheimer's by Hal Holbrook, alternating between doddering and worldly wise, bears little resemblance to reality (the script's fault).

The overly simplistic plot points make little sense, i.e., NOTHING is explained in ways that are psychologically valid (very few explanations are given, and those that are aren't expanded or detailed enough to offer real insights, or make one care)- as if a none-to-bright ten year old wrote it. To make matters worse, little evolution is shown in the characters, a happy ending is just tacked on. If you can see anything of value in this mess, you're a better man than I Gunga Din (and I would secretly say you're a master or mistress of pure projection &/or wishful thinking). Shockingly bad. I'll add that it reminded me a bit of In Her Shoes, but THAT film does everything right, whereas for me, this one has no redeeming qualities whatsover.

I think this film will change the way we see how people deal with Alzeimer's Disease. Hal Holbrook plays his role in this film brilliantly! "Flying Lessons", deserves the very best of what it can get and receive. When I first saw it at it's premiere for it's release the next day. I just thought, Wow this really touches your heart in every way. But Hal, just lifts the film to it's edge, that no other actor I believe can do. He was made to act in "Flying Lessons". I hope this film makes it to the Oscars and get's what it deserves. Every actor in the film did an amazing job! "Flying Lessons", deserves to get released worldwide!

Sincerely, my very best regards David Goulard

It is not evident why this film, released in 2010, did not attract more attention. In many ways it is a tough little story that takes audience concentration throughout to make it all fit together, but the impact of the messages it delivers make it one of the more impressive films of the decade!

The film opens with down on her luck Sophie Conway (Maggie Grace) stumbling through a drug and alcohol addled existence in Los Angeles, her life in shambles as she has sex on a bus with stranger Benji (Rick Gonzalez). With her life at a crossroads, the 25 year old Sophie returns home to the small town of Lompoc (a little town in Santa Barbara County) she always wanted to forget. Once home, she is faced with the friends - Mila (Nikki Deloach) - and lovers - Billy (Jonathan Tucker) - she left behind, a tangled relationship with her Mother (Christine Lahti) and her married paramour Steven (Cary Elwes), and Harry Pleasant (Hal Holbrook), an Alzheimer's Disease patient who, in an opposing way, shares Sophie's struggle to remember. Each of the characters in the story is trying to mentally escape a past that is painful and their interaction slowly reveals the truths of their past experiences, why they have grown apart, and how facing cloudy memories and struggling to make them clear can actually change their lives.

Hal Holbrook gives an incredibly thoughtful and eloquent portrayal of the cruelties of Alzheimer's Disease, Christine Lahti returns to the screen in a potent portrayal of a woman who attempts to disguise her life disappointments with alcohol, Maggie Grace completely inhabits the tough role of Sophie whose inability to remember the details of her father's suicide influences all of the characters' lives, and Jonathan Tucker is the epitome of a lad unable to forgive the past and move forward out of the small town into the world of adulthood. Derek Magyar directs Thomas Kuehl impeccable script with a natural ease -a factor that allows the story to unfold slowly like entering a strange other place for the first time. This is a very fine film that deserves a wide audience.

Grady Harp