The Boy Who Could Fly
Tags: inspiring, home movie

Plot synopsis:
Fourteen-year-old Amelia "Milly" Michaelson (Deakins) and her family move into a new suburban home shortly after the death of her father. Milly makes friends with her new neighbor Geneva, and Milly and her eight-year-old brother Louis (Savage) have difficulty adjusting to their new schools, while their mother Charlene (Bedelia) copes with a demotion at work and her inability to learn how to use a computer. Louis is also plagued by bullies down the street who won't let him get around the block. During the first night at the house, Charlene tells Milly she will need her help to make this work. Milly returns to her bedroom and is talking to her pet bird when something flies past the window, but when Milly goes to investigate she sees nothing.
Milly and Geneva observe Eric Gibb (Underwood), an autistic boy living next door with his alcoholic uncle Hugo (Gwynne). Eric has never spoken a word in his life, doesn't like to be around people and exhibits bizarre behavior related to flying, such as balancing on the roof of his house with his arms spread out like an airplane. Milly hears that Eric's parents died in a plane crash, and that somehow, in the instant of their death, he knew; and that he did the only thing he could think of to try to save them, which was to become an airplane. Later that night, Milly and her family watch as Eric (along with Milly's teacher Mrs. Sherman) and three adults appear outside with Eric in a straitjacket and being restrained by two men, with Mrs. Sherman arguing with a woman there about what is best for Eric. Milly later reveals to Geneva one night when Milly's mother is out for the evening that she finds Eric attractive.
Although Eric cannot communicate with anyone, he begins to react to Milly, first by mimicking her movements and facial expressions. Mrs. Sherman observes this interaction and asks Milly to keep an eye on Eric, explaining that because of Uncle Hugo's drinking, Eric is in constant danger of being taken by authorities and placed in a hospital; but that when Eric was taken away before, he became so sick that he almost died. Milly works with Eric over the course of the school year and takes notes on his progress, which is slow at first. Milly notes excitedly the first time Eric smiles on his own rather than merely copying her own smile. Eric does nothing when Milly throws balls to him, except for one day when he spontaneously reaches out and catches a stray baseball flying toward Milly's head.
However, strange occurrences, like Eric's apparent ability to appear in his own window one instant and in Milly's the next without any link between their homes, begin to make Milly question reality. In her notes, Milly wonders whether Eric is becoming more like her, or the other way around.
On a school field trip, with no one present except Eric, Milly falls off a bridge while trying to pick a rose. Knocked unconscious, she dreams that she wakes up in the hospital, with Eric sitting on the windowsill. After a conversation with him (albeit wordless on Eric's part), she becomes convinced he can fly. Eric gives her the rose she was trying to reach and then, taking her hand, leads her out of the window and the two begin flying. The two watch a fireworks display from a cloud before they share a kiss and return to the hospital window. After watching Eric fly off, Milly's dream becomes a nightmare as she sees her Dad in a hospital bed, dead, with a girl called Mona (who Milly told to throw a volleyball at her head earlier) throwing a volleyball at her which knocks her out of the window.
Milly then wakes up in a hospital and tells her mother that Eric can fly and that he caught her as she fell. A shrink, Dr. Grenader, talks to Milly and tells her that Eric caught her as she only has a concussion and no serious injuries. Dr Grenader, however, puts forth a more logical explanation and explains her belief that Eric can fly may be due to stress caused by the death of her father as he died from cancer.
Upon returning home, Milly notices the rose on her windowsill and now becomes truly convinced that Eric can fly. When she shouts to Uncle Hugo about Eric's whereabouts, he replies by saying the institute has taken him away as Hugo was found drunk again. Despite the efforts of Milly and her family, they are not allowed to see Eric when they visit the institute. As they leave due to not been allowed in, Eric tries to force the window open and is restrained by two men who try to sedate him. Another attempt by Louis to get around the block fails as the bullies tear his tricycle apart and to make matters worse, his dog Max is hit by a passing car and is taken to an animal hospital. Later that evening, Milly thinks she spots Eric on his roof during a thunderstorm and after climbing into the attic, she finds Eric, who is shivering with cold and still wearing a strait-jacket after managing to somehow escape the institute. As Milly helps him, he pulls out a box and from within it, he takes out a ring which he gives to Milly.
When the authorities arrive at Eric's house the next day, Milly sneaks Eric out and the police chase them to the roof of the school during a carnival. Eric turns to Milly and speaks her name, the first word he has spoken thus far. Milly asks Eric if he really can fly, and he smiles and nods his head. He holds her hand and the two fall off the building. Just before hitting the ground, Milly and Eric begin flying in plain view of the crowd around the carnival, which follows Milly and Eric down the streets of their town, shocking Charlene, Louis, Geneva, and Uncle Hugo. Eric brings Milly to her own window, tells her he loves her, and kisses her before he says goodbye and flies away.
Milly is heartbroken, but quickly realizes why Eric had to leave: Over the following weeks, spectators, policemen, and scientists mob the town, looking for an explanation and taking all of Eric's belongings away to be analyzed. Milly speculates that Eric too would have been taken by scientists had he remained. It is revealed that Milly's father knew he had cancer, but kept it a secret from his family because he did not want them to worry. Rather than seek treatment, he said goodbye and committed suicide. His refusal to fight for his life left the Michaelsons feeling helpless and hopeless, but Eric's ability to fly shows them that anything is possible if you believe.
Unlike Milly's father, Eric's uncle and the remaining Michaelsons refuse to give up: Eric's uncle beats his drinking problem and gets an excellent job; the Michaelson's dog Max gets better; Louis dominates the bullies down the street (with some help from Max); Charlene masters the computer at work; and Milly regains interest in her life and relationships with those around her. The movie ends with Milly looking out the window waiting for Eric. As the sun sets, she throws out a paper airplane which flies ever upward.

Review: I'm so tired of modern family movies full of fart jokes or movies where teenagers make love to pastries and it's supposed to be funny and then they staple on some superficial message at the end in an attempt to be poignant and balance out all the trash that came before.
Every other week we are tortured with some nonsense of this calibre and whenever I wish for a movie that stands out from the crowd I have to go back in time and consider some overlooked gem.
The Boy Who Could Fly is exactly that.The characters seem so real and their emotions genuine, it builds at a slow pace but it never gets boring and story development is consistent.
Very few movies have the power to make a whole story out of characters and situation alone without feeling the need for some ridiculous set piece or blaring thrash metal guitars.In fact Bruce Broughton's score is the wonderful opposite of that.
Everything in this movie comes together perfectly to make a film so unique and charming.
If you have lost your faith in the current dreck that graces our screens and if you want a family movie with some meaning and subtext then check this out.
It has an introduction by Jay Underwood and director Nick (Michael Myers) Castle, they also feature in a commentary with Lucy Deakins and Fred Savage..
I remember watching this movie when I was, I think 13 or 14.
I am by all means not an emotional person or cry a lot etc, but I have at least watched this film more then 15 times in the last year.
No other movie has ever brought me to tears every time I watch it.
That is what a true movie is a about , is the ability to let you heart go and pull in that emotion from them and try to imagine feeling what they feel.
The story centers on a mother (Bonnie Bedelia), her young teenage daughter (Lucy Deakins), and her pre-teen son (Fred Savage) as they struggle to cope after the beloved father's sudden passing.
Into this mix enters Eric (Jay Underwood), the apparently autistic teenage boy next door, who is coping with demons of his own as a result of his parents' sudden death in an airplane crash.
So grief is involved, and adjustment, and trying to fit in, and acceptance of human differences, and courage, and love - love within a family group and among people, as well as real boy/girl love.
Writer-director Nick Castle deals with these issues with respectful sensitivity, as does the excellent ensemble cast of Lucy Deakins, Jay Underwood, Bonnie Bedelia, Fred Savage, Colleen Dewhurst, Fred Gwynne, and Mindy Cohn.
Perfect warm-hearted family faire mixes down-to-Earth drama with flightful fantasy.
The Boy Who Could Fly is one of those rare family films that mixes just a touch of fantasy with a truly down-to-Earth dramatic story.Following the death of Bedelia's husband, she moves her family into a new neighborhood next door to an autistic young man (Underwood).
While life seemingly falls apart for her family, Deakins and the audience are irresistably drawn into Underwood's world and we begin to question if his apparent dream to fly isn't more than just a fantasy.
The acting in this film is superb, especially silent Underwood who conveys more thought and emotion with his eyes, face and body than the actors who speak.
This is a wonderful film for the entire family.
And although they may find themselves dealing with the emotion of their trauma, they should feel much better when the film ends..
Like other commentators before me I watched this film as a young man and it touched me.
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.
Back in the late 1980's, Jay Underwood was a teenaged boy who had a short lived starring career in films.
Lucy Deakins portrays a teenaged girl who feels sorry for Underwood and tries to help him fit in.
Film is also notable for serving as the debut performance of Fred Savage, the star of the TV series "The Wonder Years.".
This movie is very rare in today's movie market, a wholesome and innocent film that is a pleasure to watch again and again.
I was a teenager when this film first came out and never got round to seeing it back then.It was literally after reading a recommendation on an 80's website that i watched it this morning online and had to write a review.This film had me captivated from the beginning titles, right the way through to the closing credits.
You cannot help but become engrossed in this film due to the quality of the cast and the soundtrack.I won't go into details about the plot of the film as other reviews have already covered that but all i will say is that i'm a 38 year old guy who doesn't lose control of his emotions often but i cried a hell of a lot at the final scene between the two lead characters.If you haven't seen this gem of a movie then don't wait as long as i did to get round to seeing it.
gentle sensitive family film.
Milly Michaelson (Lucy Deakins), her little brother Louis (Fred Savage) and mother Charlene (Bonnie Bedelia) move into their new home.
Eric Gibb (Jay Underwood) is a mysterious mute boy living in the room facing Milly.
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.
Gentle, touching and intelligent 'family film'.
Lucy Deakins is terrific as an intelligent, thoughtful 14 year old, who slowly grows to care for the autistic boy next door.
He doesn't speak, but dreams only of flying away, a condition brought on by the deaths of his parents in a plane crash years before.
Colleen Dewhurst doesn't have a lot of screen time, but makes something rich and real out of a concerned teacher who doesn't want to see Eric locked away, knowing it will kill his spirit.
But this Capra-esque gentle, bittersweet fantasy is a great 1980s film for tweens even today, and not a bad one for adults as well..
The boy who could fly was and still is one of my favourite films and my feelings about this film haven't changed since.
As they are settling in Millie sees a boy called Eric he lives just opposite her he doesn't speak and shows no emotions.
They fall in love and it's so sweet and heart warming This is an underrated gem from the 80's.Some people may have missed this film but I recommend it to anyone looking for something with a heart and a great story.
It might not hold up as well as when I first saw it because the family film concept had not yet been run into the ground yet for me.
I also thought that the cast did a very good job in making their characters believable and sympathetic.Still, this movie is far from perfect.
(Evidence: the bullies that show up in the first few minutes of the movie subsequently disappear for more than an hour before showing up again.) Also, the movie seemed to be spinning its wheels over and over, with one scene after another advancing the plot little or not at all.This isn't a BAD movie - it has charm and warmth - but I think director/writer Nick Castle should have either reviewed his script a few more times before filming, or invited outside input to review the script..
This one's about a high school girl who moves to a new neighbourhood, who befriends the autistic boy next door.
Jason Priestley is barely recognizable.A great family movie..
Millie's little brother asks the question one stormy night after his dog (who he loves very much) is hit by a car and may die--"Why didn't he even try,Millie?" Life has been very difficult for Millie's family which consists of Millie's brother and her mother.
Her mother is having difficulty in her new job; Millie has to take care of her brother, fix all the meals, and generally take care of things around the house; and Max is doing poorly in school and is being bullied by kids in the neighborhood.
The family shows signs of cracking and the question is, "Why even try." The climatic scene for me is the stormy night, right after Max asks the question, when he runs out to dig up his buried Army figurines and Millie and Mom end up out there with him.
It is a beautiful scene that makes the movie for me.The nonsense is ironically the "boy who could fly." Although Jay Underwood plays him sensitively and wonderfully it is the literal fulfillment of this title that blows away all the subtlety seen previously.
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.
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.
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..
I think the boy who could fly is one of the best and saddest movies I have ever seen.
The acting in the movie was amazing, they did a great job.
Every time I think about the movie I just want to watch it over and over again.
I watched this movie this morning & fell in love with it all over again.
I love the relationship with Milly & Eric.
I've often wished that I could fly like Eric so that I could go anywhere in the world that I wanted to go.
Other than the Not Quite Human series this has got to be my favorite movie with Jay Underwood in it..
Growing up as a child of the 80's (I was born in '82), this was one of my favorite movies...I watched it countless times, and still do whenever possible.
I also watched this movie as a young teenager.
I remember seeing this movie when I was younger when I was about 12 and being in love with.
I loved Millie and Eric.
A Truly Wonderful Film Filled With Fantasy & Heart.
This has been one of my favourite films since I was a kid The story of Milly & Eric was incredible seeing them beginning to learn from one another and then slowly fall in love was magic.Jay Underwood is an amazing actor his performance showed how gifted he is, this movie was a lot better than the overly done up fantasy films that are shown today.
I haven't seen it in years but it still remains as one of the best movies I enjoyed watching on t.v. the film had all the right ingredients, fantasy, tears, romance and above all fantastic visual effects.
For anyone who wants to believe that anything's possible I recommend The Boy Who Could Fly you won't be disappointed..
Made in the day of mass electrification of music scores, this movie has a tasteful mix of electronic sounds.The supporting actors are so powerful in this film.
This is a formula that has worked for other really famous movies (anyone remember Star Wars?).We need more films like this.
Great 80's fantasy movie.
Acting was great, especially by the young kid playing eric.
Fred Savage was great, i liked his first day at school.
Somehow it doesn't matter if this film is viewed as allegorical or as a literal telling of a fantasy story.
This is one of the movies I think of when I think of my childhood, you could not make a film like this nowdays.
The LOVE SCENE in the sky above the hospital between Eric and Milly with the fireworks display with a great musical score playing during this scene makes it one of the most romantic scenes I have witnessed in any film..
Outside of Eric, the characters are very real and you feel for them.
Even before the dramatic conclusion, Milly has found hope through her relationship with Eric, and tries to share this the rest of her family.
As the movie reaches it's (somewhat cheesy) conclusion, it feels good to see all the happy endings, but mostly feels good to see the characters with hope and optimism, regardless of the end result.As a child I remembered having a mini-crush on Milly.
She is a beautiful character, not just her looks (where she is very pretty in a girl-next-door sort of way), but her care for her brother, her mother, her neighbor.
And much like the Shawshank Redemption delivers it's best line at the close, (MINOR SPOILER HERE)when Colleen Dewhurst says "Maybe if you dream hard enough and love long enough, anything is possible.".
It could be seen as some sort of modern fairy tale, not be considered seriously, but with some sort of hidden meaning/moral.I can relate to this movie because of some similar events, fears and dreams from my own life; of course like most movies, this one is exaggerated a bit, and mixes fantasy(people's dreams) with real life.This is why some 80s movies are so fun to watch, because they are absolutely unrealistic escapism and fantasy to the max, cheesy and overly optimistic as some may consider, but so is belief in God and Lord Jesus Christ, which i do share by God's grace.
The girl Milly, while doing her best to be the family cook, actually finds time and care to help the autistic boy next door/window Eric.
As many 80s movies' characters, Milly doesn't have much flaws, except for underage alcohol drinking; though i expected her to breakdown into "i'm getting no respect/real life" fit, guess i've seen too many 90s-00s "overdriven realistic" movies, where teenagers are too often rebellious and egoistical.As the Milly's mother and brother get through their work and bully problems, Milly and Eric get romantically close in an innocent way and get to fly holdings hands to the amazement of the whole city.
THE END.CONCLUSION: The whole flying, may be a metaphor for the first love, with Milly and Eric, being high on the wings of love.
The Boy Who Could Fly is a very underrated film from the 80s.
The tale of an autistic boy, Eric (Jay Underwood) who believes he can fly, and his neighbour Milly Michaelson (a sweetly appealing Lucy Deakins) who forms a friendship that blossoms into love.Eric has been autistic since his parents died in a plane crash when he was five.
Ever since, he's imagined he can fly like a plane (possibly so he could save his parents), sitting on the windowsill of his bedroom or standing on the roof of his house, getting ready to take off.
Not even to his own uncle Hugo (amusingly played by the late Fred Gwynne), who cares for Eric, and drinks more than he should.Milly has just moved in next door with her widowed mother Charlene (another fine performance from Bonnie Bedelia) and her brother Louis (a groan inducing Fred Savage).
She's not sure if she believes Hugo's stories that Eric can really fly, but when she falls from an overpass, and somehow survives, she slowly convinces herself Eric has the gift of flight.I really did enjoy The Boy Who Could Fly. There's a wonderful simplicity to its storytelling, and thanks to director Nick Castle's confident and assured grasp of narrative, its a rewarding experience.
Midway, there is a scene when we see Milly flying with Eric.
If the climax had some of the same mystery the rest of the film had, it would have made Eric's departure even more powerful.But still, TBWCF has much to recommend it.
At least you don't get Eric screaming his head off with fists flying like Dustin Hoffman's embarrassing performance in Rain Man. The Boy Who Could Fly is a far superior film.Another of the 80s many hidden treasures..
A warm movie that makes you feels good!.
When I seen this back in the 80s, I didn't understand what the story's about, all I could was get the gist: a boy who's mute, and can fly, despite what I termed bullies who wants to lock him up for his refusal to join society.
Thus, believe and have faith, for all things is possible to the God, which is our human Imagination!Thanks for the movie, I am grateful for this wonderful movie.
**POSSIBLE SPOILER INFORMATION**I couldn't believe it when I saw a 6 something for this movie!
Ok, so there are some sappy parts (mostly involving Fred Savage) and Mindy Cohn REALLY got on my nerves, the the genuine sense of love you can feel coming from the other actors more than garners the movie at least an "8".