Paper Planes

Way too often I see Australian reviewers take it easy on mediocre Australian films because they want to see the Australian film industry succeed. How they think that does anyone any good is perplexing. It encourages mediocrity. It causes Aussie films that are actually good (like The Babadook) to be viewed with suspicion and distrust even when they get good reviews -- because if Paper Planes can get positive ratings for being Australian, so can pretty much anything.

I'll start with the soundtrack. The only song which I imagine was originally written for the movie goes something like this: "The world is full of beauty / So boys and girls shake your booty" (the tune itself is even more devoid of appeal). And then there is what I think is THE most unthinkingly tasteless use of music in a film EVER when the lead boy's grandfather shows up with baked goods while "My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard" plays. WTF!?!?!?! I'm no prude. That might have worked in an Abrams and Zucker film, but here it is totally out of place. Considering how clueless much of the direction of the film is, I couldn't even bring myself to see it as some sort of deliberately perverse joke. Sort of like people who cluelessly play "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" at funerals, or "Every Breath You Take" at weddings. No, that wasn't creepy at all.

So on to the plot: Sam Worthington is wasted as a man who just spends the entire film moping. He is such a useless weight you just want to slap him. And he's the film's sole source of emotional gravitas. Next, for suspense we have this unusual plot device: The lead boy goes from making the greatest paper airplane ever to instantly forgetting how to make one (I mean, he cannot make a plane that goes more than a few inches), etc -- whatever thecontrived plot needs at the moment. I will avoid getting into that in any more detail to avoid spoiling anything, but the film is so utterly clichéd and paint by numbers you barely have to watch any of the film to know how it will all go.

"BUT", you might say. "It is made for KIDS. They haven't seen (The Wizard / Karate Kid remake / generic kid enters competition film)." And, of course, even in predictable films it is the journey itself that counts. Well, my daughters (almost 4 and 8) haven't seen any of those other films yet, either, and Paper Plans completely failed to hold their attention. Was it because it lacked animated characters? Or was it too mature? Hell, no. In contrast they have, e.g., watched "Bridge to Terabithia" with full attention from start to finish -- a film that actually deals with serious issues like love, loss, bullying, friendship, redemption, etc, effectively, without Sam Worthington moping around like a worthless bum for 5 out of every 10 minutes. Usually the girls comment about the movies we watch together. The only thing either brought up was when the 3 year old asked where the boy's mummy was. Paper Planes is, quite simply, barely watchable garbage. Which is a shame since Sam Worthington and David Wenham are great actors -- even this dog's breakfast of a script cannot hide that fact -- but nothing could possibly save this film.

This is a sweet, simple little film, but with some interesting and thoughtful themes to get your kids thinking a little more about things they see sometimes, but may not really understand.

The biggest of those themes is loss, and the reviewers who don't 'get' Sam Worthingtons character have completely missed this. You don't just 'get over' the loss of your wife five months after her sudden death, everyone has their own way of coming back, and Worthington's character hasn't found that way back when we meet him in the film. He's still lost. And it's his son's understanding of his dads grief that underpins the entire film. It's subtle, but it's the whole driving force of this story. The actual competition that seems to drive the film is actually secondary... but ultimately becomes the catalyst to get the father through his grief and back to 'life'.

My 8yo son picked up on this about halfway through the film, when the father refused to sell the piano - he said 'I know why he can't sell it'. The storyline didn't flesh it out until later, when Dylan told Kimi that his mum had been a piano teacher - and this is another thing the film does; it reveals its layers slowly, and for the most part lets its audience figure things out for themselves.

The messages and lessons for the target audience start almost from the beginning of the film - it will get kids thinking about sportsmanship, peer pressure, role models, friendship, and loss... and it does so with a good dose of laughter and a sublime sense of the ridiculous - always a winner with kids.

Worthington's character didn't really hit his stride until mid film, which was a shame - it left the door open for the less cerebral members of the audience to assume he was just a deadbeat dad, and when those types make that assumption, they'll drop dead before they'll admit to themselves that they were wrong. Not Worthington's fault; the script should have introduced the bereavement earlier than it did.

I also think the connection between Dylan's father and grandfather should have been explored a little more. Ultimately we end up knowing nothing about his father other than that he's shattered by the loss of his wife - that's a given, so why didn't we get a little more about the man himself? I slept on my lounge plenty of times myself in the months following my separation from my wife, but if I were a movie character I'd want my audience to know a bit more about me than that fact.

Tip - have a decent supply of A4 paper on hand for the morning after watching this movie with your kids :)

Just your average cheesy kids film with second-rate humour and mediocre acting. I kind of enjoyed it, but there are better movies for kids.

At first this movie may seem like it is just a film about trying to build the best paper plane in the world but the film encompasses so much more than that. The actual plane building makes up some portions of the film but the rest actually is spent with getting to know the characters and seeing some relationships evolve over the course of the film. This movie had a lot of heart and many emotional scenes especially when it is following the boy's relationship with his father. You really understand these two characters and get to know them and see them really grow. Sam Worthington (Jack) and Ed Oxenbould (Dylan) were great in the film, their relationship felt real and you could buy into their actions and decisions. The overall story was carried by these two characters, mostly the child as you see him progress through the paper plane competition. It is an interesting story, although there was a section 3/4 into the movie that i felt slowed down a little too much just momentarily, but then it picked itself up ad finished off pretty strong.

Where i felt the film could have done a lot better is with the supporting cast. Well, excluding the grandpa, he was the comedic relief in the film and i would have to say he was pretty entertaining and did lighten the mood a few times. There was one bit that was a bit too silly and dramatised but he wasn't the issue. I'm mainly talking about the other child actors in the film, Dylan's school friend and his rival in the competitions i felt at times played too much to their stereotypes. I'm not sure if it was the actors or the writing but sometimes they felt, well, like a character and not a real person. There is also a subplot with another girl that was oddly introduced, it felt very out of place and took me out of it for a bit. But in the end this is a fun, heartfelt story about a boy and his father that takes place during a plane throwing competition, and if you can avoid focusing too much on some of the unrealistic plane throws you can enjoy this movie. - 7

I really wanted to love this film, and I do like it! It is a beacon in the turgid sea of recent offerings which do not appeal to a general Australian audience (hence their woeful returns at the box office - Beautiful Kate, Samson and Delilah ... I could go on) The premise is intriguing and the story is compelling, the acting generally competent. My main complaint is directed at the clunky dialogue. This is a general criticism but specifically aimed at the lines given to the kids as I am country born and bred, and a teacher of country kids. The conversations and interaction between kids is unconvincing, and needed a major edit. I hasten to add that the Peter Rowsthorne character seems authentic.

However it is a heartwarming and uplifting depiction of achievement against the odds and I hope that itdoes well.