Great Moments in Aviation
Tags: melodrama, intrigue, murder, flashback

Plot synopsis:
Set in 1957, Great Moments in Aviation follows Gabriel Angel (Rakie Ayola), a young Caribbean woman from Grenada who embarks on a cruise to England with the intention of becoming an aviator. Upon boarding the ship, Gabriel finds herself assigned shared sleeping quarters with fellow passenger Duncan Stewart (Jonathan Pryce). The rest of the ship's passengers, including missionaries Angela Bead (Vanessa Redgrave) and Gwendolyne Quim (Dorothy Tutin) assume the two are married, and when Professor Rex Goodyear (John Hurt) appears to recognise Duncan as his old acquaintance Alasdair Birch, Duncan fosters the assumption to maintain his cover. It transpires that Duncan is a forger, who many years ago stole a Titian painting from Goodyear and had an affair with his wife. Goodyear believes that his painting is on board the ship, and leads Gabriel to believe that Duncan was responsible for his wife's death. She is furious with Duncan for lying to her, but the two go on to reconcile and later make love. Their romance is complicated by the fact Gabriel professes to have a husband waiting for her in England. She explains that he has been there for two years working, and she is joining him so that she can fulfil her lifelong dream of becoming a pilot — inspired by her grandfather Thomas (Oliver Samuels) who flew off into a storm and never came home. They begin a relationship nonetheless, supported by Angela and Gwendolyne, who also come to realise that they have feelings for one another. They each confess to having secretly been in love with the other for years, and become lovers, vowing to live together in their retirement. It comes to light that the death of Goodyear's wife was an accident, caused as he and Duncan fought over her. Duncan returns his painting, and goes on to burn all his forged documents and papers in front of Gabriel. She confesses that her marriage to Michael is over, and she and Duncan resolve to begin a life together. The film ends with Gabriel's grandmother Vesuvia (Carmen Munroe) reading her family a letter from England, informing them that Gabriel and Duncan are happy together, and are expecting a child. As the family express their delight, Gabriel flies overhead, having finally attained her pilot licence and become an aviator.

Review: Robust acting outshines the story line. Redgrave, Pryce, Tutin and the younger actors all give virtually flawless performances in this somewhat original but unevenly written tale. While the story has some good lines, the suspense does not hold. The marvelous character actors haul the script along. Ms. Ayola as the buoyant, aspiring aviator is particularly compelling. There's a surprising, touching scene between Redgrave and Tutin when they discover that their collegiality has blossomed into love -- Vanessa sensually licking a spoon evokes a laugh. If you think, as I, that films are worth seeing for good performances, this one will not disappoint.. A big disappointment. Despite what the blurbs say, the story's focus is a young girl from Grenada traveling to England who wants a pilot's license. The art forgery is a very minor sub-plot. If you like her character, you'll probably like the movie despite the weak story line, but I just couldn't get that interested. I felt I wasted my time watching this.. Has Its Moments (slight spoilers). Perhaps the video title ("Shades of Fear") and plot summary are a bit deceptive, and designed to lure fans of Agatha Christie style mysteries. However, I was impressed with the script's comic tone, and the dialog, which mostly avoided cliches. The directness of some of the dialog was undercut, a couple of times, by a conventional use of swelling music during dramatic, confessional scenes; and some of the character developments were a bit too pat. The missionaries played by Redgrave and Tutin, for instance, confessing their sensual affection for each other, after years of denial was a bit much. Not for those looking for a traditional British chamber mystery, but rewarding for other reasons: the acting (especially John Hurt's performance), the very good photography (rarely has food been so lovingly depicted by the camera), decent period atmosphere aboard the ocean liner (loved the little extra touches like the horses in the cargo hold), and the somewhat unconventional protagonist. A bit too much like a Hallmark greeting card at the end, but interesting and enjoyable for the most part.. great imagery, great music, just OK story. Perhaps my idea of what constitutes a "made for TV" move is marred by what I'd grown used to before HBO and other cable networks added a bit of class to the genre. So I was still surprised to learn this movie was 'one of those.' Shades of Fear is graphically gorgeous despite all the action taking place on a passenger ship. Better even than Titanic, which naturally was mainly grandiose. And the music! God, where can I get it? No soundtrack released as far as I know. As for the story. Well, it was mostly wise sayings and a quickly solved mystery. Gabriel Angel's personal impediment to love was resolved too quickly to make sense. Still, I liked it. I give it a B+.