Review of Fly Away

Fly Away (2011)
10/10
A very sensitive film that you will not forget
29 March 2012
Warning: Spoilers
This is such a wonderful film that you will never forget in your life. It's not "Rainman", no big studio film to entertain masses. "Fly away" digs so much deeper into reality. It will touch you so deep inside.

The story of Jeanne and her autistic daughter Mandy. It's almost impossible for the mother to manager her life because she always has to take care of her daughter. Even a love romance with the new neighbor looks impossible and so does work when she loses a deal because Mandy deleted some files on her laptop. Jeanne visits a school for autistic kids and has to make the hardest decision in her life: to let Mandy go to live her life and to start living her own life.

There are so many intense scenes between mother and daughter. Even when they go out eating pizza and just having fun people look at Mandy without any understanding and tell her mother if she can't handle her she shouldn't go out with her. One of the most beautiful scenes in this film is when Jeanne already has an car accident because of Mandy's behavior during the drive. Jeanne stops the car and starts crying. Then Mandy sings for her "Ladybird", the song Jeanne always sang to her daughter when she woke up in the middle of the night crying and then she also tells her to breath in and breath out like her mother always did to her.

Ashley Richards gives an impressive performance as Mandy. She is so deep in her role that you just realize in the "Making of" that she is not really autistic. Beth Broderick plays Jeanne very sensitive and heart-touching. She is a great actress and this is one of her best parts ever. Both play their roles without makeup and give up all vanity. Beth is such a beauty she even looks great without makeup.

In the "Making of" everyone talks about their motivation about this project and so we hear that director/writer Janet Grillo has an autistic son and that Beth Broderick's sister works with autistic persons so that is why this film is so impressive.
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