FLYBOYS Best Romance, 2006 - 4 Stars TOP-NOTCH FILM, FULL OF ACTION AND GRACE Flyboys is the true story of the Lafayette Escadrille, an elite group of flyers during WWI that US citizens were allowed to join before America had formally entered the war. Much like the French Foreign Legion, it was made up of men who, for the most part, were running away from something or were out for adventure. One man in particular from Texas, Blaine Rawlings - played engagingly by James Franco (James Dean, Spiderman) - is particularly laid back about the whole affair, until he finds himself in his first dogfight. Then reality sets in and he realizes why the average life expectancy for these flyers is three to six weeks! Director Tony Bill (The Sting - producer) gives his film a traditional epic look with gorgeous cinematography, sweeping locations and authentic details, while also using CGI technology to good effect in the flying sequences. This film far surpasses The Aviator, which did little more than prepare the way for this more masterful handling of early military aviation and the dogfight sequences in particular. There are also some exciting rescue missions that will put you on the edge of your seat, as well as the downing of a zeppelin that has set out to bomb Paris. Besides the action in the air and on the ground, there is a sweet love story between Franco's character, Rawlings, and a French country girl named Laura, played winsomely by Ruth Bradley. There are also some well-developed character studies among the rest of the pilots: a black boxer-turned-pilot, played by Abdul Salis; a Bible-reading Christian, played by Michael Jibson, who sings "Onward Christian Soldiers" as he goes in for a kill; a suspected spy, played by David Ellison; et al. Jean Reno does a terrific job as Captain Thenault, their instructor and commanding officer, as does Tyler Labine as head flyer Briggs, who keeps a lion as a pet. If there were one word I would use to describe the story and relationships in this film it is "grace." There are a lot of screw-ups along the way, but there always seems to be an attitude of grace among the participants. This brings the men together as a family, and gives the film a very godly quality. WWI fighter pilots had a harrowing job to do. If their planes caught fire, they had only three options: burn to death, jump and hope for the best (there were no parachutes), or kill themselves with a pistol. So, they were heroes of the first order. Giving the story plenty of grace helps to make it human and raise it above the typical action-adventure film. Though the film is rated PG-13 for war violence, it is handled with surprisingly good taste, and there is also a refreshing absence of sex and profanity, though there is a small amount of the latter. The DVD is almost absent of extra features, which is a shame. People who like reality, history, aviation and a good story seem to like this film. Those who want to escape reality into an artificial world of sensory overload, don't. Waitsel Smith, March 17, 2007 Text, © 2007 Waitsel Smith. Pictures, © MGM. All Rights Reserved.

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