Spin

In the 1950s near the Mexican border, Eddie Haley's parents die in a plane crash. Eddie's Uncle Frank takes care of him for a while, but his career with the Air Force requires a lot of travel and he can't take Eddie along. So Eddie is left in the care of Ernesto and Margaret, who run the Haley family ranch.

Eddie meets Francesca at the park and they become friends. Francesca's father is mean, and she claims her mother and grandparents don't want anything to do with Francesca and her father.

Several years later, Eddie is 17 and sitting in his father's airplane, which is his now. He has no plans to become a pilot, and he doesn't seem to have much of a plan for his life, period. Margaret gets a job teaching at the high school in town, so Eddie goes to school there and makes the football team.

Eddie meets Francesca once again. She is very nice and quite pretty, but she has a dark secret. Not only that, but she is poor and Mexican, so she is treated differently by some people. Brad, whose father owns a mine where Eddie's parents died, is Eddie's friend. He knows about the plane crash but not the fact that Eddie's parents were in the plane. Eddie and Brad both want to date Francesca, but only one can, so the other gets Julie.

Uncle Frank returns and teaches Eddie how to fly, though Eddie has never gotten over how he was rejected years ago.

This starts out as a pleasant enough family film. Toward the end, though, some disturbing themes are introduced. There is nothing explicit except for one scene where there is blood, but no obvious clue as to where it came from unless one is really paying attention (what I mean is that a child wouldn't have to know it was blood). There are bruises, so we know one character was the victim of violence. And there is the suggestion of a despicable deed no child should know about.

But the good news is that Eddie shows character and determination as a result of what happens. And an element of excitement is added as well. The film does inspire because of what Eddie has to do. I actually assumed this might have been a real person (otherwise, why did the film have to take such a dark turn?) until I saw the closing credits, which said this movie was fiction.

Most of the actors give good performances, but Stanley Tucci stands out as a loving but firm uncle.