The Boy Who Could Fly (1986)

Strictly average movie

Just perfect...

Excellent, a Must See

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

I remember being intrigued by this movie when finding it on IMDb. For me the relative innocence of 80s movies and childhood nostalgia made it a much better, if absolutely unrealistic movie. It could be seen as some sort of modern fairy tale, not be considered seriously, but with some sort of hidden meaning/moral.I can relate to this movie because of some similar events, fears and dreams from my own life; of course like most movies, this one is exaggerated a bit, and mixes fantasy(people's dreams) with real life.This is why some 80s movies are so fun to watch, because they are absolutely unrealistic escapism and fantasy to the max, cheesy and overly optimistic as some may consider, but so is belief in God and Lord Jesus Christ, which i do share by God's grace. This may be due to a partial return to conservative and Christian values that the world had in the 80s, as a backlash against confused and crisis-ridden 70s.The film is about a family struggling with their lives after the tragic death of their father, who chose suicide instead of fighting with cancer. But no matter how hard one's life is, there is surely someone whose life is worse, so their neighbor is an alcoholic man with an autistic nephew, whose parents have died in a plane crash.While this movie is not Christian, in showing no love to or mention of God, it is similar to Jesus' second greatest commandment "Love your neighbor as yourself". The girl Milly, while doing her best to be the family cook, actually finds time and care to help the autistic boy next door/window Eric. As many 80s movies' characters, Milly doesn't have much flaws, except for underage alcohol drinking; though i expected her to breakdown into "i'm getting no respect/real life" fit, guess i've seen too many 90s-00s "overdriven realistic" movies, where teenagers are too often rebellious and egoistical.As the Milly's mother and brother get through their work and bully problems, Milly and Eric get romantically close in an innocent way and get to fly holdings hands to the amazement of the whole city. Then Eric flies away. THE END.CONCLUSION: The whole flying, may be a metaphor for the first love, with Milly and Eric, being high on the wings of love. It may also be an aspiration to what is true, noble, right.. as in New Testament, Philippians 4:8. The fact that Eric then flied away, may mean that Milly and Eric separated and never seen each other again, or that Eric may have fallen off the roof and did die, which sounds sad, but possible. Thus many people could relate to it, adding their own life stories about their first love, life tragedies or mental problems.

As one other IMDb user noted here, this is a movie that would most likely not be made today. It's lacking in cynical attitudes and razzle- dazzle flash. But being raised in the era that this movie was made, I could appreciate the movie's sweet and gentle tone. I also thought that the cast did a very good job in making their characters believable and sympathetic.Still, this movie is far from perfect. A big problem I had was with the movie's length - it is almost two hours long. Though it could have been worse, since there is evidence here that the original cut of the movie ran much longer and was whittled down in the editing room to its present length. (Evidence: the bullies that show up in the first few minutes of the movie subsequently disappear for more than an hour before showing up again.) Also, the movie seemed to be spinning its wheels over and over, with one scene after another advancing the plot little or not at all.This isn't a BAD movie - it has charm and warmth - but I think director/writer Nick Castle should have either reviewed his script a few more times before filming, or invited outside input to review the script.

I think the boy who could fly is one of the best and saddest movies I have ever seen. The acting in the movie was amazing, they did a great job. I haven't seen the movie in a long time but it is one of those movies that sticks in your head and one that you will never forget. Every time I think about the movie I just want to watch it over and over again. My whole family does. I would also like to ask if anyone knows where I can obtain a copy of the movie from? I have been searching for the movie for years now and have been unable to find a copy. I feel that this movie is similar to A Walk To Remember with Mandy Moore, that movie was great also.

This is one of the movies I think of when I think of my childhood, you could not make a film like this nowdays. The performances are so authentic, and genuine, it makes for a remarkable experience. Wow, I'm in awe of its beliefs. Imagine if you had the ability to fly......