The Boy Who Could Fly

PG 6.5
1986 1 hr 54 min Fantasy , Drama , Family

Milly and Louis, and their recently-widowed mom, Charlene, move to a new neighborhood. Once there, they all deal with a variety of personal problems, but Milly finds a friend in Eric, her autistic next door neighbor. Eric has a fascination with flight, and as the story progresses, he exerts an enthralling force of change on all those around him.

  • Cast:
    Jay Underwood , Fred Savage , Bonnie Bedelia , Colleen Dewhurst , Fred Gwynne , Lucy Deakins , Jason Priestley

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Reviews

CheerupSilver
1986/08/15

Very Cool!!!

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Fairaher
1986/08/16

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

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Rio Hayward
1986/08/17

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

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Josephina
1986/08/18

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

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cousinoleg
1986/08/19

I remember being intrigued by this movie when finding it on IMDb. For me the relative innocence of 80s movies and childhood nostalgia made it a much better, if absolutely unrealistic movie. 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. This may be due to a partial return to conservative and Christian values that the world had in the 80s, as a backlash against confused and crisis-ridden 70s.The film is about a family struggling with their lives after the tragic death of their father, who chose suicide instead of fighting with cancer. But no matter how hard one's life is, there is surely someone whose life is worse, so their neighbor is an alcoholic man with an autistic nephew, whose parents have died in a plane crash.While this movie is not Christian, in showing no love to or mention of God, it is similar to Jesus' second greatest commandment "Love your neighbor as yourself". 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. Then Eric flies away. 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. It may also be an aspiration to what is true, noble, right.. as in New Testament, Philippians 4:8. The fact that Eric then flied away, may mean that Milly and Eric separated and never seen each other again, or that Eric may have fallen off the roof and did die, which sounds sad, but possible. Thus many people could relate to it, adding their own life stories about their first love, life tragedies or mental problems.

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samborrett_27
1986/08/20

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. I haven't seen the movie in a long time but it is one of those movies that sticks in your head and one that you will never forget. Every time I think about the movie I just want to watch it over and over again. My whole family does. I would also like to ask if anyone knows where I can obtain a copy of the movie from? I have been searching for the movie for years now and have been unable to find a copy. I feel that this movie is similar to A Walk To Remember with Mandy Moore, that movie was great also.

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prissyj79
1986/08/21

This movie is great. It takes you back when wishes and faith brought people a long way. There is no getting around it if you have never seen this movie you need to. This is a great movie for kids to watch compared to the movie choices that they have today, but yet is great movie for adults. This movie is an older movie but yet is the only movie that I can honestly say was great. no complaint or suggestions just great. Well written and directed the actors and actress's where great. This movie is one that should never be forgotten and I would love to see anther movie made that is like this. This movie should never leave your library of movies and if you do not own it you should there is no getting over it it was the best movie of my time and that is not very long but it always will be the best.

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ToneeRhianRose
1986/08/22

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.

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