The Boy Who Could Fly (1986)

• Year: 1986
• Released: 15 Aug 1986
• Country: United States
• Adwords: 3 wins & 5 nominations
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090768/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_boy_who_could_fly
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-boy-who-could-fly
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: PG
• Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance
• Runtime: 114 min
• Writer: Nick Castle
• Director: Nick Castle
• Cast: Lucy Deakins, Jay Underwood, Bonnie Bedelia
• Keywords: autism, flight, autistic, widowed mother,

	6.5/10
	67/100
	63% – Critics
	69% – Audience

The Boy Who Could Fly Storyline

In the 1986 film The Boy Who Could Fly, Jay Underwood plays Eric Gibb, an autistic boy who lives with his alcoholic uncle Hugo Gibb (played by Fred Gwynne) and befriends the new girl next door, Millie Michaelson. Because Eric is unable to verbally communicate and his parents died when he was five in a plane crash, Eric faces the constant threat of institutionalization by unsympathetic social workers who believe he is a threat to himself and the community because Eric has an affinity for climbing onto rooftops and standing on window sills. Throughout the film, audiences often see Eric standing with arms outstretched and eyes closed, as if he believes that he is flying or can fly. At school, Eric’s English teacher Mrs. Sheridan (played by Colleen Dewherst) advocates for him and encourages Millie to bond with Eric. In the months that follow, Eric and Millie form a close bond and Millie begins to suspect that there is more to Eric than appears. Specifically, Millie begins to suspect that Eric actually can fly, especially when he appears to jump from her windowsill to his and when he saves her from falling off a bridge on a school trip to the zoo. While Millie cannot remember Eric flying to save her, she can come up with no other explanation for her miraculous rescue. Unfortunately when Hugo goes on a drinking binge, social workers remove Eric from his home and place him in an institution where Eric is heavily medicated and often restrained. Millie eventually helps Eric escape from the institution and when confronted by social workers and the police at their high school, Eric grabs Millie’s hand and the two literally fly away from the school and soar over rooftops to Millie’s home. In a scene reminiscent from E.T., Millie and her family face the onslaught of reporters and scientists investigating the boy who could fly while Eric disappears forever into the clouds.

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The Boy Who Could Fly Movie Reviews

Lovely movie and there could be an interesting sequel

Like other commentators before me I watched this film as a young man and it touched me. In fact it moved me to tears. Now I am older I am still touched by the simplicity of this film and yet it is complex in showing us that from adults to children we all have things to deal with. The reason why Eric Gibb could fly is the most touching of all and in case there are people who do not believe that it is possible for one to sense tragedy in one close to you, believe me it’s real.

As I pen this comment I have just watched it again and cannot help but feel that even twenty years plus since this movie came out there is the scope for a sequel ‘The Man who could fly’ I am not talking about a TV series but a one off movie showing our stars meeting again in adult hood. Something to think about. I liked this movie and I would like to own it on DVD should it be released for the European audience.

gentle sensitive family film

Milly Michaelson (Lucy Deakins), her little brother Louis (Fred Savage) and mother Charlene (Bonnie Bedelia) move into their new home. She gets a new friend in pushy Geneva Goodman (Mindy Cohn) while Louis gets bullied by Geneva’s brother and his friends. Charlene has a difficult time to start anew after losing her husband. Eric Gibb (Jay Underwood) is a mysterious mute boy living in the room facing Milly. His drunken uncle Hugo (Fred Gwynne) is his guardian. People think Eric is autistic. He started to believe that he could fly at 5 when his parents died in a plane crash. Milly wonders if he could truly fly. Their teacher Mrs. Sherman (Colleen Dewhurst) works to keep him from being institutionalized with Milly’s help.

It’s a wonderful sensitive film that is good for the whole family. Lucy Deakins is endearing and sweet. There is a gentle magic about the movie. It’s very romantic in the simple childlike way and also surprisingly funny. The family drama is poignant. It’s a live action fairy tale.

I thought this film needed a few flying lessons.

I will not say this is an entirely bad film, just not a really good one. It kind of straddles the middle of good and bad thus proving to be a somewhat neutral film. It has some good stuff within, but I feel that the end kind of makes it all fall apart. The story has a family moving into a new home and the next door neighbor is in charge of taking care of this boy whose parents were killed in I believe a plane crash. Do not quote me on that though as it has been forever since I last saw this film. Well you find out the boy has problems, though I do not believe he would be sent to a mental institution as they are not free and I am betting he does not have the insurance to pay for it. Still, he has problems, though he goes to a normal school. So he is so mentally unstable that he is place in a mental institution, but he can attend a regular high school? Well the girl that lives next door and is part of the family that just moved in sort of bonds with said boy and thus you have their strange friendship developing for most of the film. You then have an unexplained end as they should have remained a bit more obscure, but who am I to argue how a filmmaker should end his/her movie. There is a nice subplot involving the brother of the girl trying to get around the block and take care of some bullies that was rather funny and more interesting at times than said flying story.