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The Theory Of Flight (1998)
Released By: New Line Home Entertainment   Rating: R   In Theaters: N/A
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Studio: New Line Home Entertainment
Genre: Comedy
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Paul Greengrass
Language: English
Official Website: N/A
Theatrical Release: N/A
Home Video Release: N/A
Cast: Helena Bonham Carter, Kenneth Branagh, Gemma Jones
Published ID: 8014
UPC: N/A
Plot: Continuing cinema's fascination with bringing the stories of handicaps and the mentally challenged to the big screen (Rain Man, My Left Foot, Shine, etc.), here comes a low-budget film about the unlikely love story of people brought together by fate, as well as 120 hours of community service. As a frustrated artist who can't build himself a flying machine, Richard (Kenneth Branagh) eventually finds himself in trouble with the law. As punishment for his eccentric behavior, he accepts community service in the company of Jane (Helena Bonham Carter), a strong-willed woman suffering from the neuromuscular disorder called ALS (otherwise known as Lou Gehrig's disease). As the two learn from each other, Jane turns to Richard with the biggest favor of all, helping her lose her virginity. What ensues is a romance/friendship that changes their lives forever. ~ Arthur Borman, All Movie Guide
IDDateTimeTitleReviewHelpfulVotesTotalVotes
one of my favorite movies...
Added 6/30/2009

I have watched this movie several times and love it evey time.
I wish it was in DVD format!!
Kenneth Branagh and Helena Bonham Carter are perfect together.
It's funny and sad but in a good way.

0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
You are the wind beneath my wings...
Added 11/17/2008

Richard (Kenneth Branagh), a frustrated painter and would-be airplane builder, has a mid-life crisis and ends up afoul of the law. He's sentenced to community service and assigned to be a companion to Jane (Helen Bonham Carter), who is suffering with the end stages of ALS. She's sarcastic and angry and he's depressed, but eventually their frienship grows; then she asks him for a favor that only he can do.

This remarkably uplifting true story is funny and tragic and just plain wonderful. Carter is well-cast as the caustic young woman who wants to experience physical love just once before she dies. Branagh is tender and gentle as the man who dreams of flying. The ending is never in doubt, but the journey is engaging and will have you reaching for your tissues. Beautifully filmed in London and Wales.

2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
Interesting
Added 6/24/2008

This is a very unique take on a love story. The box labels it a romantic comedy but that's because there is no proper category for this film. It is at times: romantic, awkward, embarrassing, funny, sad etc. It is well worth your time. I found myself pleasantly surprised. At the beginning, it is a little hard to understand her but that's just because you have to adjust your listening skills to her cadence. I will definitely see it again. It is a very unusual movie. Not typical. So, if you want something different from your standard blockbuster video movies, watch this.
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
One of my favorite movies
Added 11/25/2007

I can't believe this movie isn't even on DVD yet. It is a classic. With two of Britain's greatest actors. Wonderfully human, funny and intelligent.
4 out of 4 people found this helpful.
Theory doesn't take flight
Added 10/21/2007

"Theory of Flight" opens with Helena Bonham Carter,crippled in bed with ALS,watching porn. She wants to lose virginity before she dies. Enter Kenneth Branagh (so to speak),her then-real life boyfriend,as a failed aviator,who also happens to be saddled with a boring fiancee. Together,they collaborate on him "taking flight" and her losing her virginity.

While Jane (Helena Bonham Carter) is treated in a condescending way&assumed she's asexual because she's disabled,her relationship with Kenneth Branagh's character comes across as forced and contrived. Their "humor" as a couple isn't funny. Jane doesn't "suffer beautifully" like other movie heroines,but she doesn't come across as sympathetic either. She thinks her life will be meaningless if she dies a virgin.

The movie's few strengths are Branagh as a generally brittle,unsympathetic character who gradually warms to Jane (Carter was his girlfriend at the time) and the good try at direction by Paul Greengrass. One wonders if the movie is a vanity project with Branagh just "happening" to cast his real-life girlfriend as a woman who wants to be deflowered before she is deceased. As for Paul Greengrass,he has gone onto bigger and better things than this. After all,he directed "United 93" and "A Mighty Heart."

2 out of 4 people found this helpful.
one of my favorite movies...
Added 6/30/2009

I have watched this movie several times and love it evey time.
I wish it was in DVD format!!
Kenneth Branagh and Helena Bonham Carter are perfect together.
It's funny and sad but in a good way.

0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
You are the wind beneath my wings...
Added 11/17/2008

Richard (Kenneth Branagh), a frustrated painter and would-be airplane builder, has a mid-life crisis and ends up afoul of the law. He's sentenced to community service and assigned to be a companion to Jane (Helen Bonham Carter), who is suffering with the end stages of ALS. She's sarcastic and angry and he's depressed, but eventually their frienship grows; then she asks him for a favor that only he can do.

This remarkably uplifting true story is funny and tragic and just plain wonderful. Carter is well-cast as the caustic young woman who wants to experience physical love just once before she dies. Branagh is tender and gentle as the man who dreams of flying. The ending is never in doubt, but the journey is engaging and will have you reaching for your tissues. Beautifully filmed in London and Wales.

2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
Interesting
Added 6/24/2008

This is a very unique take on a love story. The box labels it a romantic comedy but that's because there is no proper category for this film. It is at times: romantic, awkward, embarrassing, funny, sad etc. It is well worth your time. I found myself pleasantly surprised. At the beginning, it is a little hard to understand her but that's just because you have to adjust your listening skills to her cadence. I will definitely see it again. It is a very unusual movie. Not typical. So, if you want something different from your standard blockbuster video movies, watch this.
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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