Away and Back

In Oregon State, Jack (Jason Lee) is a struggling widower of three kids. The youngest, a girl Frankie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones), misses her mother every day and the bedtime reading of her favorite book, The Trumpet of the Swans. Dad, most times, only has time for a chapter. Also, Papa tries to keep his kids busy, making their own lunches and doing household chores, as he operates his door making carpentry business. Meanwhile, a bird-biologist, Jennie (Minka Kelly) nurses a swan back to health from a gun shot wound. All too soon, the kids favorite pair of Trumpeter swans come back to the pond near their home and lay eggs. Frankie and her middle brother row out to take a look but get too close. The swans, very protective and fierce, break her brother's arm. Then, tragedy happens. A power line kills the mother bird and Frankie takes the eggs to incubate at home. Realizing she is over her head, she eventually gets Jennie on the phone. Seemingly very disturbed, Jennie comes and confiscates the eggs, lecturing the children about the endangered species and her job to protect it. However, after this initially gruff meeting, Jennie does let the children come see the three hatched cygnets. Plus, the children are thrilled when Jennie comes to place them back in "their" pond, as father swan is still there. Its not a simple task and stretches into weeks. As Jennie lives in a trailer close to the family, romance and a new beginning may be in the offing. Then, Frankie comes up missing just as the swans are migrating. Will she be found? This lovely film has it all, lovely cast, scenery, script, direction, and gloriously lovely SWANS. Go away to the store and bring it BACK NOW.

Like a lot of fellows, I became a fan of Minka Kelly when she played a high school cheer leader on the TV series Friday Night Lights. The good news is that she is just as convincing and attractive in this film, and the story line is something that the whole family will enjoy. In fact, the quality of the acting, and the great production values combine to make this one of Hallmark's best productions. Jason Lee plays the widowed father of three with just the right blend of manly resolve tempered by personal loss, and the knowledge that his children really need a mother. His youngest child, "Frankie" is played to perfection by ten-year-old Maggie Elizabeth Jones, and his son "Kyle" played by Jaren Lewison is very good in a lesser role. My only quibble with this film is its confusing geography, which traces an established migratory bird flyway south from Cheney, Washington to Wallowa Lake in north-eastern Oregon, but was mostly filmed in Alberta, Canada.

Cool to see the trumpeter swans mentioned in Fly Away Home. This is a good, clean movie. But we're never told what Minka Kelly's problem was at the start. No focus is given to her bonding with the sons. And we're never told what the oldest son's problem is, or how it's resolved.

Animal lover Jennie Newsom (Minka Kelly) runs a wildlife station. Widower farmer Jack Peterson (Jason Lee) has three kids; Frankie, Kyle, and Stretch. Frankie is sadden upon finding a dead swan until the kids find the nest. Jack is not happy and Frankie calls Jennie from the yellow pages. It turns out the dead swan was tagged by Jennie and is part of a research project. She has to reintroduce the three chicks into the wild on the Peterson farm.

It's a functional family film for Hallmark but oddly, it's not much as a romance. They try to spice it up by making Jennie initially cold and bitter. Her relationship with the little girl is more compelling. I was expecting a little girl with little chicks following her like Fly Away Home. This is not that which does limit the cuteness factor. There isn't much in terms of drama and the only action is little Maggie Elizabeth Jones driving an ATV. Is that legal? Are there no union rules? I am still uncertain about the acting prowess of cheerleader Minka and Jason in more serious roles. The little girl is cute but it's not enough.

This is not the kind of movie I would normally take time for because I find made for TV movies to be heavy on message, slanted and cliche ridden. The acting is usually hit and miss. But being a Jason Lee fan and slowly becoming a Minka Kelly fan I wanted to give it a try. This one was none of those things I feared, even though a film about a motherly woman temporarily joining a motherless family would usually be filled with lines like "you can't bond with kids for awhile and then leave them." Minka Kelly does just that but without the same cliche-ridden drama. A big reason to watch this is a love of nature and many people understand human devotion to birds that fill the world with song and color and endless fascinating behaviors. The fact that they came from dinosaurs is incredible to think about. The director uses real film so the colors and photography are endlessly gorgeous. The locales really lend themselves to film. Even though the inevitable romance was a no-brainer, it was realistic and engaging. Both characters are strong and independent, but they blend out of necessity and natural moments of commonality. The tension-filled drama toward the end was believable and easy to handle. The ending was great and I felt like the score added a lot to all of the scenes.