A big city can be a difficult place to connect to others, and this only gets harder when you stand out as odd or different from others. Unable to enjoy the simple connections that he sees other making with friends and family, a person made entirely from balloons makes his way in Los Angeles – easily hurt and damaged by those around him.
Floating is very much a visual effects film, but in fairness, it does have a narrative and it is one that, although simple, is still touching in how it delivers. Visually the streets of LA are well shot, really capturing the heat and color of that city. It does this with the camera, but it also does it with the casting since at least one of the cast members appears to be part of LA's art scene as opposed to just a random extra (Krisztianna – and although I'd love to pretend I just spotted that, it was only in the final credits that her name caught my eye and sent me to Google). Against this canvas, the balloon character is very well animated; okay they do not totally look and feel like regular balloons as they do not quite look as delicate and they do have more solidity to them, but it still works and it moves and looks pretty real in-situ. Better than this is how well it does emotion, as with small movements we do understand a lot of the feeling of the character.
What didn't work as well is that the film is just too long for what it does. It probably didn't help that Jardin did so much of the film and therefore maybe didn't have another voice in the process that was equal to his own, but the film could easily have lost about 2-3 minutes and been better for it. The feeling of the character is well done, so we didn't need it essentially repeated over and over; while the time between the connection in the subway and the end of the film is too long, it shouldn't have padded that out as it does feel longer than needs be, but also it detracts a little from the build and the ending. That said, the ending is very nicely done and if you have been drawn into it you may get something in your eye.
It is a visual effects film and it works as such but also has a decent enough narrative as well; just needed to be shorter and tighter in order to be more effective.
