Flyboys (2006)

In the opening scenes, we're introduced to a handful of these men. There's Blaine Rawlings (James Franco), who's looking for his place in the world after the bank foreclosed on his family ranch. William Jensen (Philip Winchester) comes from a long line of military heroes, and wants to earn his spot of honor in the family tree. Briggs Lowry (Tyler Labine) is bullied into volunteering by his domineering and disappointed dad. African-American boxer Eugene Skinner (Abdul Salis), who'd moved to more diverse and accepting France years earlier, wants to pay back his adopted country. Once they arrive in the French airfield that will be their home, they're given a stiff welcome by French Captain Thenault (Jean Reno) and a jaded warning from lone American veteran Reed Cassidy (Martin Henderson).

James Franco stars as Blaine Rawlings

Though Cassidy tells them the average life expectancy for new flyboys is three to six weeks, we don't get any hint of that danger during their training—which consists mainly of spinning in a chair and then trying to walk a straight line, shooting up bales of hay from a moving makeshift cockpit, and playing with toy planes. There's even the helpful instruction that those white aviator scarves aren't just fetching, they're also functional. In the midst of all this, while learning how to fly, two of our boys crash conveniently close to the local prostitute house. While his wounds are being nursed, our leading man, Rawlings, meets the one "nice girl" in the bunch, a non-English-speaking local named Lucienne (Jennifer Decker).

Though we have all the requisite characters for any self-respecting war movie—the cowboy, the aristocrat, the underdog, the minority, the uncaring leader, the jaded veteran, the damsel in distress, the enemy, and even the Bible-thumping weirdo—this isn't really a war movie. It's really war lite. For example, before their first mission, Cassidy hands a couple of the men two items: a hammer and a handgun. The hammer is for when a part of the engine gives them trouble while flying—apparently banging on it helps. And the handgun is in case they go down in flames and want to cut to the chase instead of suffering a slow, agonizing death. These are grim realities of war—faulty equipment and countless fatalities—and yet somehow this scene plays out as quaint, with the squeaky-clean fliers exchanging looks of "gosh, I hope I don't have to use these."

Rawlings falls for a French girl named Lucienne (Jennifer Decker)

In another scene, the new fliers are retreating for the night to the mansion that serves as their barracks. With aw-shucks enthusiasm, one quips, "These Frenchies sure put on a nice war." For the most part, people who die just kind of slump over in their seat, or crumple gracefully to the French dirt. And is there really this much scowling in aerial combat? At turns the movie feels like War! the play (in precious, folksy scenes), War! the Disney ride (during nicely choreographed flight scenes), and War! the musical (when Bible boy starts singing "Onward Christian Soldiers" while flying into battle).

As the men take flight on their first mission, we're treated to one of the film's high points—the stunning visuals. As the planes fly over the beautiful French countryside, Lucienne—dressed in a flowing dress and wide-brimmed hat—turns her exquisite French face to the skies with a look of admiration and concern. There are several such scenes of lovely French landscapes and the planes emerging from a low-lying early morning fog. It's as if the cinematographers are hanging portraits throughout the film.

Taking aim at the German enemy, high above the ground

During the first mission, we're also treated to another of the film's high points—the aerial shots. Much is made of the fact that this is the first World War I aviation film in over 40 years. Clearly the planes are the centerpiece. However, part of the impact of these aerial sequences is lost because we're a little fuzzy on the point of each mission. We aren't really invested in what they're trying to accomplish, and as such, I often felt more like a spectator at an air show than a viewer rooting for our boys to return home victorious.

Overall it feels as though the directors and producers spent so much time on the visuals that they forgot to tie them all together with needed transitions (you can almost hear someone yelling "cut!" before the abrupt end to many battle scenes), plausible action (how does one land a plane and run across a battlefield mere feet from the enemy trench and not get shot?), realistic timeframe (apparently you can learn a foreign language in a week's time if you're in love), and believable dialogue (I'm no WWI buff, but I have a hard time picturing soldiers saying stuff like "Those guys sure can tie one on!").

The aerial dogfights are the real stars of the film

There's a missed opportunity toward the end of the film when Rawlings laments the lack of justice in battle, and Cassidy advises him, "You have to find your own meaning in war." This is a great point, but it's never really explored with any of our characters. We see the various motivations that led the men to war, and though there's a postscript of what happened to each of the surviving men afterward, we don't really get a sense of what any of these men takes away from this experience.

Similarly, I'm unsure of what moviegoers are supposed to come away with either. Flyboys plays like one of the many sports-oriented "inspired by a true story" flicks that's released in the past couple years. This folksy quaintness works well on the sports field, but on the battlefield, it seems lacking. War is much more complicated and gritty than "the big game," and that needs to be explored. So while Flyboys has lots of heart, eye candy, and likable characters, its lack of more grit, believability, and substance stops it from truly inspiring.