THE BOY WHO COULD FLY

Front cover of my official VHS videocassette of The Boy Who Could Fly (© Nick Castle/Lorimar Motion Pictures/20^th Century Fox)

I have previously noted (when reviewing Hyper Sapien: People From Another Star) that the 1980s saw a profusion of family-friendly movies with fantasy or sci-fi themes, but of which only a relatively small number achieved notable critical acclaim and/or major commercial success, with the remainder soon fading away into the mists of movie obscurity, despite the fact that some of these latter films were greatly deserving of a much more favourable reception. A couple of nights ago, I watched another of these unfairly all-but-forgotten 1980s fantasy movies, and I can say without hesitation that it is one of the most moving, poignant, and thoroughly delightful films that I have ever watched, and I cannot for the life of me understand why it did not achieve all-time-classic status.

Directed (and also written by) by Nick Castle, and originally released in 1986, the movie in question is The Boy Who Could Fly, and was entirely new to me, my reason for purchasing its official VHS videocassette some time ago having been based entirely upon its intriguing title and front cover image, but with no knowledge whatsoever of its plot – which, as I discovered when finally watching it two nights ago, is a very memorable, emotive one, and is as follows.

Charlene Michaelson is a widowed mother with two children, teenage daughter Milly (played by Lucy Deakins) and younger son Louis (Fred Savage), plus their dog Max. They move to a new home and neighbourhood, and discover that their next-door neighbor Hugo is an amiable but seemingly incurable alchoholic (played with a touching blend of humour and pathos by none other than Fred Gwynne, best known as Herman Munster from the popular TV show The Munsters). Moreover, Hugo Gibb is nominally the guardian of his seemingly autistic nephew Eric Gibb (Jay Underwood), who is the same age as Milly but has never spoken a single word, and after the death of both parents in a plane crash has retreated inside himself completely, not associating with anyone and obsessed with pretending to be an aeroplane, walking around with arms outstretched. The authorities are keen on committing Eric to an institution, especially as Hugo seems incapable of looking after him adequately, but on a previous occasion when he was committed, Eric became so ill that he almost died. And so, following the emphatic intervention of one of his school's teachers, Mrs Carolyn Sherman, Eric was reluctantly released back into Hugo's uncertain custody.

Milly becomes very intrigued by Eric and is encouraged by Mrs Sherman to watch over him, as he seems to respond to her, albeit only minimally – but as the weeks go by, Eric's response to Milly gradually increases, first of all by mimicking her and following her around, then by smiling at her of his own accord rather than merely as an act of mimicry, and even on one occasion catching a baseball that was about to hit her on the head. Little by little, almost imperceptibly, Milly begins to fall in love with Eric. But there remains something very strange, very mysterious, about him, inasmuch as he suddenly appears in places where it seems impossible that he could have reached by normal means.

On one such occasion, while Eric is sitting on the windowsill of Milly's second-floor bedroom that faces his own bedroom in his house, Milly turns away from him for just a moment, but when she turns back again she finds to her amazement that he is now sitting on his own second-floor bedroom's windowsill of his own home next door. Yet there is a very sizeable gap between the two windowsills, far too wide for anyone to jump, so how did he get there in the matter of just a moment? Milly begins to entertain the idea, crazy as she knows it seems, that Eric can fly. But an even stranger incident is soon to happen.

During a school trip to a botanical garden, Milly and Eric become separated from the others in the school  party, and Milly stands on a barrier to reach up for a white rose that she would like to pick but is just out of her reach. Attempting to grab it, she loses her footing and falls 50 ft down to the ground below, banging her head on the barrier as she does so, which renders her unconscious. Yet when she wakes up in hospital, her only injury is the bump to her head caused by the barrier, despite having fallen such a distance down onto the ground. As Milly lies there in bed, Eric appears at her window, despite the fact that her hospital room is several floors up. He gives to her the white rose that she had been trying to pick when she fell, and she asks him if he had caught her when she fell and whether, therefore, he can indeed fly. Eric smiles shyly and nods, then takes Milly's hand and flies out of the window with her, taking her upon a wonderful aerial tour of the city before sitting on a cloud with her to watch the sun set and kissing her gently, then taking her back to her room.

Sadly, however, it all proves to have been just a dream, which turns into a nightmare when Milly sees her father lying dead in hospital before waking up in shock, and later learning that although she had always believed that her father had died of cancer, it turned out that in reality he hadn't been able to deal with the cancer and had instead committed suicide. This in turn makes Milly wonder whether her belief in Eric being able to fly is just a trick that her grieving mind has been playing upon her. After being released from hospital, Milly goes back home, only to receive another shock, learning that during her absence the authorities had deemed Hugo unfit to look after Eric any longer and had committed Eric to an institution again. Milly and her family promptly go there to see him, but are not allowed to do so. Nevertheless, Eric sees them through a window, and bangs upon it in a desperate but vain attempt to attract their attention, and has to be restrained by staff as they unsuspectingly drive away.

Somehow, however, Eric manages to escape (it is never revealed how), and Milly finds him back at his home, curled up and shaking with cold and fear in the attic, where he gives her a ring for her finger. The authorities arrive, so Milly and Eric flee to their school, in the hope of finding sanctuary there with Mrs Sherman, but the police have already arrived, and give chase, finally cornering them on the roof of one of the school's tall, multi-storey  buildings. Standing on the edge of the building as a policeman cautiously approaches, and holding Milly's hand, Eric looks at her and slowly but deliberately says "Milly", the first word that he has ever spoken. Milly looks at him and, just like in her dream but this time in reality, asks him if he can fly – and, smiling, Eric nods his head. They look over the edge, Milly grips Eric's hand tightly – and then they jump!

SPOILER ALERT! If you don't want to know how this movie ends, read no further!

Publicity poster for The Boy Who Could Fly (© Nick Castle/Lorimar Motion Pictures/20^th Century Fox)

The route that the storyline of The Boy Who Could Fly has taken so far means that only two outcomes are truly feasible (a third, that it is all just a dream, has already been utilized during the scene with Molly recovering in hospital). Either the whole 'can Eric really fly?' mystery has all been a tantalizing red herring, in which case he and Milly will plunge to their death; or he can indeed fly, which will instantly transform what has hitherto been as much a psychological suspense drama as anything else into a full-blown fantasy movie.

In a sense, whichever option proves to be the one chosen by this movie's creators will be disappointing, because it is the uncertainty of whether Eric really can fly that has been so compelling throughout the movie, making it thoroughly engrossing – but one of them has to be chosen. And if I say that the movie's title and videocassette cover do rather give the game away right from the very start, plus this is a family movie after all, you will not be at surprised to know that, yes indeed, after plummeting downwards for a moment, Eric and Milly suddenly soar up above the crowds of concerned people standing all around watching the rooftop drama unfold, swooping over the local park and over the streets back to their own homes, followed by the excited, unbelieving crowd, and swiftly joined by media cameramen, police, and everyone else in the vicinity.

When they reach Milly's home, Milly sits on her bedroom's windowsill while Eic remains hovering in the air next to her. Slowly, hesitantly, but with great concentration, he speaks to her the word "Goodbye", followed by "I love you". They kiss, then Eric flies away, never to return. Although Milly is immensely sad, she understands Eric's reason for leaving, realizing that once the police and scientists arrived, he would have become the subject of unending studies, medical researches, and continued investigations to discover how he could fly – in short, he would never have been free again.

And indeed, even though Eric escaped, all manner of tests were subsequently performed upon Milly, to see if she held any clues regarding their airborne activity, and also upon Eric's uncle Hugo, as he was a blood relative and may therefore hold vital information concerning this physiological anomaly. However, although Eric was gone, his example of how anything can be conquered if you are brave enough inspired Milly to do well at school, her young brother Louis to confront and dispel the local bullies who had been making his life a misery, Milly's mother to learn how to utilize the office computers that had been holding her back at work, and even Hugo, who gives up alcohol and successfully gains employment in a responsible job.

Sometimes, Milly stares up at the setting sun, remembering Eric, her dream of when they were sitting on a cloud gazing at the sunset, and that electrifying moment when finally they flew together in real life – hoping that somehow, someday, he will come back, and they will be together again, a silent boy and a beautiful girl who loved and will always love him so much. And who knows, perhaps it really is true that if you wish hard enough and love long enough, anything can happen. I for one would certainly like to believe that.

What makes this magical film so affecting and inspirational are the truly moving performances of the two leads. Lucy Deakins as Milly gives a totally believable, evocative rendition as the sympathetic teenager who initially feels merely sadness for the strange unspeaking youth shunned by his classmates but as she comes to know him more and more finds herself drawn ever closer to him, especially when her determined efforts to reach the grieving mind locked away behind his enigmatic eyes, until eventually she realizes that she loves him.

But it is Jay Underwood as Eric to whom this movie belongs. His portrayal of the autistic youth who has additionally suffered ever since a small child from the severe, lasting trauma caused by abruptly losing both parents in a singularly shocking manner and with no-one left in his life to help him deal with these profound issues is nothing short of mesmerizing. We watch entranced as, little by little, his mind is awoken and his spirit given veritable wings of inspiration by the care and love shown to him – for the very first time in his life since his parents' demise – via Milly's tenacious attempts to bring forth the real Eric, as revealed by actor Jay's very expressive face and body language. Plus the tantalizing ever-present question of whether Eric really can fly compels us even further to remain focused upon and fascinated by this truly spellbinding movie.

If you can find The Boy Who Could Fly on DVD, videocassette, or anywhere online, please do take the time to watch it. You will never regret doing so, and it will certainly reinforce how potent and fundamental a force love can be, capable of transforming a mere existence into a vibrant life. And here is a trailer to show you exactly what I mean.

Finally: to view a complete listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE! 

Another publicity poster for The Boy Who Can Fly (© Nick Castle/Lorimar Motion Pictures/20^th Century Fox)