If I Had Wings

This movie was so beautiful, I really loved it. The story was so sweet and the acting was so great. But I had one problem that I'm sure many viewers may have...The whole time I was so expecting the two main guys to develop a romantic relationship... it was suggested so much and not just because I was expecting it. The ending seemed unnecessary and as if they were avoiding the inevitable. I didn't quite get it? They made it seem as if they were going to get together, but then literally in the last 10 minutes decided "nope, let's keep this heterosexual' and introduced new relationships with no chemistry or story? Other than that slight letdown, it was an amazing movie and a must watch!

If I had Wings is a family film about a blind kid who wants to be a runner but needs a running partner. He teams up with a troubled youth in a bid to win a race.

To get the negatives out the way first this is a film we have seen a million times before, the troubled kid with a good heart, the bad guy Jock, the standard family film plot template.

For all it's predictability this still manages to be a very enjoyable and well above average film of its genre. This is mainly due to an excellent cast who all do a good job with the script they have. In particular Jaren Brandt Bartlett who is superb as the charismatic bad boy turned good.

The film is fast paced and flows well and there are some well executed laughs to be had along with the drama had as well. This is a film that can be enjoyed by all the family, a pretty rare occurrence these days. Highly recommended.

This was a really heartwarming film that struck a lot of the right chords: overcoming a disability; having tolerance and respect for persons who are different in terms of culture, race, or ability; and meeting the challenges of single parenthood. During the screening I attended in Vancouver in April, young people in the audience were well engaged and, in the climactic race scene, cheering on the hero. It's a well-paced film with high production values.

One of the challenges of a classic overcoming-the-odds film is making the characters and their situation believable. This film achieved a good level of credibility by giving all characters, both the good and the bad, a mix of traits. The hero has his faults, just as the less likable characters have their moments of grace and remorse.

The film is well acted throughout. It was a testament to Richard Harmon's acting that, in a Q&A session following the screening I attended, one of the audience asked whether the actor is blind or sighted.

I would not waste your time watching this film. It was bad in every way. The acting, screenplay, direction, music. The music is so loud with singing while they are running but they are TALKING while running and you can't understand or hear them because of the loud music. The acting is wooden and pretty over the top. The direction I thought was like a Lifetime movie and what do you know the Director is from Lifetime movies. You can feel it as soon as you start watching it. The blind kid was not bad in it but to have all these stereotypes around him made it hard to watch. You really laugh at the all the cliche lines and characters in it.

I enjoyed the film and the various story lines presented kept me interested and kept the plot moving. A good watch.

As a former XC runner myself, the director could have done much more research into the sport. Many facts/reality are not there, had they been I would have notched this up a bit higher. Also made the 'villain' in the movie difficult to believe because the sport doesn't typically attract those type of jocks.

The back-and-forth between the runners assigned to each other was what I found most intriguing.

Good cinematography that helped tell a well-written story.