Fly Away Home (1996)

Everything about this movie is 1st-rate. The cinematography is simply stunning. The musical score is perfect for the progress of the story. The casting is spot on- Anna Paquin truly shines, and has the best support possible. And the story- oh... well, you just have to see it. There's something for everyone here, young and old- sorrow, inspiration, humor, hope, redemption, injustice, and a thrilling race against time. It's infused with characters that are real, but it's when the geese take wing that this film really soars. That the flight scenes are done almost exclusively without special effects will open your eyes, and you can get lost in the clouds! No matter your age, you should see this movie.

Amy Alden (Anna Paquin) survives a car crash where her mother is killed. She leaves New Zealand to live with her father Thomas (Jeff Daniels) in his ramshackle house in Ontario, Canada. She has no memories of her Canadian home and feels isolated. He's an eccentric inventor artist who flies his homemade glider. Susan Barnes (Dana Delany) is his girlfriend. After a land developer tears down some trees, Amy finds an abandoned nest of goose eggs. She raises the chicks but when the time comes, she has to teach them to fly south.This is a fine family movie. Anna Paquin is adorable and so are the chicks. The story is gentle feel good. Jeff Daniels is great as the eccentric dad. There is a real free feeling that comes from watching people run around with these geese. There is a minor drama with a wildlife officer and a main one with a land developer. In the end, the drama isn't too high but it's good for the whole family.

Sctmpir's review nails this film, which celebrates a young female character with immense richness, complexity even, and grace. I think that the treatment of women in this work is among the most finely nuanced and intelligent I have ever seen in any film.Carroll Ballard, who directed the gracious and almost unbearably beautiful "Wind" as well as "The Black Stallion", "Duma", and "Never Cry Wolf"--all films that have an almost sentimental tone but a tone really closer to romantic in the classic Victorian sense of awe and wonder at life itself—controls every aspect of the narrative. This film might seem close to but is never saccharine. It is about wonder in the sense of awe.Anna Paquin exhibits brilliance as an adolescent actor that overwhelms me, in part, because there is never anything trite or coquettish that often mares the role many fine young actresses play. The role here required immense transparency, poise, and nuance.Dana Delaney has the same poise, apparent simplicity, attention to nuance and understatement as Ms. Paquin. No actor is better than Jeff Daniels is when he expresses understatement and subtly—remember him, for example, in "Pleasantville" and "Purple Rose of Cairo". Tim Kerry is a great boon to the film but everyone seems outstanding to me.Caleb Deschane is a master of magic hour cinematography, which works exceptionally well here. He did, for example, "The Right Stuff" with Philip Kaufman directing, "The Passion of the Christ" with Mel Gibson directing, "A Woman Under the Influence" with John Cassavetes, and "Being There" with Hal Ashby. He also directed the thoughtful film "Caruso". The attention to detail in this movie amazes me. There is not a bad frame anywhere in the film. That, of course, is in part the work of the editor Nicholas Smith.Music by Mark Isham is a tad dramatic but still lovely. Mr. Isham is one of the most productive of film composers.And the airplanes are terrific. The aerial images alone overwhelm me and recall the imagery from "Wind", one of my favourite action films. The flight though Baltimore alone is worth the price of admission and it one of utter majesty. One plane was the one used in the true story behind the work.As usual, I am not up to doing this fine work credit that it earns. I want to own a copy of it.I rate it ten because I judge films on their individual merits, not necessarily in comparison with other works.

I had kind of half meant to watch this movie for ages, and finally did so yesterday.I wish I hadn't waited so long! There are a number of things which make this movie well worth watching.One, it looks great - some fabulous scenery filmed during the always photogenic autumn.Two, that great look includes much scarcely believable aerial photography featuring a flock of geese following a microlight aircraft.Three, at the heart of the movie is a fragile relationship between a father and daughter who scarcely know each other, beautifully portrayed by Jeff Daniels and Anna Paquin.The film is good to look at, and always interesting and emotionally engaging.A small masterpiece.