Day 176: If I Had Wings (September, 1)

If I Had Wings is exactly what I thought at first when I saw it announced on Netflix: a story full of inspired lessons but a not so good movie. For that reason, I was reluctant to watch it, but on this day I decided to confront my fears concerning it.

The thing is, some writers rely too much on the interest about true events. If I Had Wings is based on the American Idol finalist Scott Macintyre's  story as a cross country runner at high school (Mcintyre wrote the original song for the movie). As soon as I've read the film's synopses, I know what would be ahead, but encouraged by the imdb.com ratings, I choose to risk and see it. 

Well, everything I've feared at first is there: lousy writing, inspiring life lessons, cheesy dialogues. And it is so futile, because the story is really good, the lessons are there, and the script didn't need to force any inspiration on it. By doing that, it actually went in the way of the good characters and their most endearing traits. 

A curious fact: it is an almost familiar production: the director cast two of his kids as  actors here, including the protagonist. It is sweet, actually, but if the production were a bit more complex, this movie would have been a really good one. 

At the end, as usually happens in this kind of movie, it was interesting to know about the story and its events - but it is basically it, when a film can be so, so much more. 

Scott Mcintyre

If I Had Wings. Directed by Allan Harmon. With: Richard Harmon, Jaren
Brandt Bartlett, Craig Bierko, Jessica Harmon. Canada, 2013, 89 min.,
Color (Netflix). 

PS: Fragment: Another movie based on true events on this day, The Whistleblower, 2010, with Rachel Weisz, tells the story of a US cop that unveils a a sex scandal on Bosnia involving the U.N. It is so anguishing, so spot on, that I wasn't able to keep watching it, but I will. From the little I've seen, it is a good movie about a story that claims to be known.