Rating:

I was lucky enough to catch a screening of The Flyboys at the Newport Beach Film Festival on April 27th. The theater was packed. We found our seats and the film started soon after. Let me just get this out of the way right now. As of this writing, The Flyboys, directed by Rocco DeVilliers, is one of the best films I’ve seen this year. The film is winning awards in the local film festival circuit and details two 12-year-old boys in a small town, who accidentally stow away aboard a private airplane owned by the mob.

The story fluctuates between two young school kids and a gangster family caught up in the turmoil of their lifestyle. Kyle (Reiley McClendon), and his mother Samantha, are new to town. Struggling to get by, and to save up money for a house, the two live in a motel, while Samantha tries to scrounge up money by working as a waitress. Kyle stands up for Jason (Jesse James), a boy who is about to get the beating of his life after school, and this sets up an exciting car chase through the neighborhood streets (and diner…and back alleys…and…you get the point). The climax of the chase leads the boys to attempt a feat not often tried in their neighborhood.

The story switches between the boys and the gangsters involved in some pretty shady business. The short of it is that, Silvio (Stephen Baldwin), needs his brother, Angelo (Tom Sizemore), to help him pay off some shady businessmen that threaten (read beat him down outside his house). He travels on Angelo’s private jet to visit him. Silvio begs his brother for money, but to no avail. He most go back home and deal with the consequences. Being the gangster that he is, he sets into motion a plan that will not only ruffle some feathers in his own family, but drag the kids into the chase as well.

From here we’re lead to self-discovery, lies, deceit, redemption, and ultimately CHASES. I’m talking, through the streets, inside buildings, down back alleys, across runways, and even into the sky on more than one occasion. The end of the film ties all of the characters story-lines together nicely and everything makes sense while not feeling forced at all.

Two things I want to credit, on top of the solid storyline, are the acting and cinematography. Especially deserving of the acting credit are the two young men that played the leads. They brought depth and emotion to two characters that could have been wooden in the wrong hands. As for the cinematography, just wow. Jim Orr captured some of the most stunning air-born shots I’ve ever seen. I felt like I was watching an Argento film, minus the fancy stylized lighting.

Overall: I’m upset that so many studios have passed on this film. But, I hope that cine-philes are able to make it to any showings of The Flyboys at a film festival near you. A perfect family film, that’s guaranteed to make everyone happy in the family.

I was also lucky enough to speak with producer/writer/director Rocco DeVilliers about the film:

“Nobody in Hollywood is making the kinds of films that I grew up with anymore. At the end of the day, I just really wanted to see this movie - an old-fashioned adventure with kids in real danger – with real consequences. I grew up watching the original Johnny Quest cartoons. There were bad guys with guns, shooting at kids on Saturday morning! It was fantastic. You’d never see that kind of thing today – it’s too politically incorrect.

My grandfather was a crop-duster and I have very fond memories of visiting my grandparents in Blackfoot, Idaho as a kid during the summer. I would play at the small airport where my grandfather would keep his airplanes. He had a P-51 Mustang, a T-33 and a Twin Beechcraft D-18. We used to play in the Twin Beechcraft and make up all kinds of adventures. This is where the idea for the story in THE FLYBOYS came from – two boys from a small town accidentally stow-away aboard an airplane owned by the mob.

I’m very proud of the fact that we did this film the old-fashioned way. We shot it on 35mm film with real stuntmen performing real stunts. Everything you see was shot “in-camera” without the use of a bunch of CGI effects. Doing it this way just heightens the experience in my opinion. I believe that when you watch something unfold on the screen that you know was done for real, it pulls you into the film more. Although digital tools have many great uses – nothing beats the real thing.

These days, kids are watching a lot more rated R films than they used to. I believe a lot of it is due to the fact that it’s where they have to go to find real action and adventure. I hope I can give kids a real adventure, but also inspire them with some of the old-fashioned values in the story.”

Check out the official site to watch a trailer.