‘A Friend Indeed’ | 3 ½ stars ‘The Flyboys’ | 2 ½ stars
By ROBERT W. BUTLER
The Kansas City Star
The Glenwood Arts is presenting the documentary and narrative films that audiences voted the best of the recent Kansas International Film Festival:
‘A Friend Indeed’ ★★★ 1/2
No MPAA rating
Running time:1:30
You may already be familiar with the story of Bill Sackter. The subject of Mickey Rooney’s 1981 TV film “Bill,” Sackter was committed to a state mental hospital at the age of 7 and was released 44 years later.
The childlike Bill was “adopted” by a young couple — Barry and Bev Morrow — and followed them to Iowa City, Iowa. There he became not only a member of their growing family but also a beloved fixture on the Iowa University campus and a celebrity.
Lane Wyrick’s “A Friend Indeed” covers the same territory in documentary fashion, drawing upon hours of footage of the real Bill taken over 15 years by Barry Morrow, a media specialist at the university. (He wrote the screenplay for “Rain Man.”)
There are talking-head interviews with the Morrows and others who befriended and helped him. But the real attraction is Bill himself. Puffing away on one of his precious harmonicas, playing with children (clearly, he was one of them), calling everyone “Buddy” and dispensing his own brand of simple, soulful philosophy, Bill is an immensely likable, even inspiring character.
Moreover, he converses in a form of Bill-speak that is both soothing and humorous. Mostly he seems to have had the special ability to make people forget about themselves and care about someone else.
Bring a box of tissues. You’ll need it.
‘The Flyboys’ ★★ 1/2
No MPAA rating. Contains language, violence.
Running time: 1:58
Just what sort of movie does “The Flyboys” want to be when it grows up?
It starts out as a well-made kids’ film about a couple of airplane-crazy junior-high boys.
Then it becomes a mob movie, complete with brutal murders and tough-guy posing.
And when it’s good, it’s really good. But this first feature from Rocco DeVilliers (who co-wrote the screenplay with sibling Jason DeVilliers and the respected Mormon filmmaker Richard Dutcher) suffers from a split personality. It’s like two stories unfolding in parallel universes.
New friends Jason (Jesse James) and Kyle (Reiley McClendon) take on school bullies and hang around an airstrip where they dream of aviation. They stow away aboard a small plane and, once it’s airborne, emerge from the luggage compartment to find that they are alone. The pilot and passengers have vanished.
Then the film flashes back to the story of Silvio (Stephen Baldwin), the black sheep son of a crime family. Deep in debt, Silvio decides to rob brother Angelo (Tom Sizemore), the head of the Vegas mob. His plan is to be on the family plane when a big shipment of casino profits is being flown out. He’ll kill the pilot and other passengers, dump their bodies from 15,000 feet and bail out with a parachute and the cash. Then he’ll help his brother try to solve the crime.
Which brings us back to the present, with the two boys attempting to land the plane with little more than the information they’ve picked up watching a friend pilot his aircraft.
The kids are fine, but the real treat here is seeing Baldwin and Sizemore at their best. Their characters’ love/hate relationship transcends the Mafia clichés to become a surprisingly moving study of sibling rivalry and reconciliation.
But the halves of “Flyboys” never quite line up. There are genuine pleasures here, but there’s so much narrative bumpiness that you may find yourself with the cinematic equivalent of airsickness.
Join the discussion
Share your observations and experiences about news. Lively, open debate is the goal, but please refrain from personal attacks or comments that are racist, vulgar or otherwise inappropriate. If you see an inappropriate comment, please click the "Report as violation" link to notify a KansasCity.com editor. Thanks for your feedback.