Customer Reviews
You are the wind beneath my wings... - By: Kona, 17 Nov 2008 
Richard (Kenneth Branagh), a frustrated painter & would-be airplane builder, has a mid-life crisis & ends up afoul of the law. He's sentenced to community service & assigned to be a companion to Jane (Helen Bonham Carter), who is suffering with the end stages of ALS. She's sarcastic & angry & he's depressed, but eventuallly their frienship grows; then she asks him for a favor that only he can do.
This remarkably uplifting true story is funny & tragic & just plain wonderful. Carter is well-cast as the caustic young woman who wants to experience physical love just once before she dies. Branagh is tender & gentle as the man who dreams of flying. The ending is never in doubt, but the journey is engaging & will have you reaching for your tissues. Beautifully filmed in London & Wales.
A Beautiful But Sad Tale. - By: Ms. J. F. Gilby, 01 Oct 2008 
I saw this today & thought of how reallly sad it is. The story becomes a struggle then it turns into something romantic with some funny & sad parts along the way. The pefomances are brilliant from Kenneth Branagh as Richard & the outstanding Helena Bonham Carter as Jane. There was also a blink & you miss him moments of Ray Stevenson, phwoar isn't he fine?! A very beautiful but sad tale, it could leave you in tears.
Brilliant Movie - By: John Napper, 26 Jul 2008 At last, after much searching, I have found a DVD of this amazing film for sale. Don't be put off by the title which sounds very boring & scientific. This is a very moving film about two people who don't fit into the accepted view of society.
Kenneth Branner plays a bank clerk who is obsessed with being able to fly. The film starts with him on the roof of the bank where he works, about to jump off with a home-made hang-glider. Someone callls the fire brigade who are fortunately on hand to catch him as the glider fails. He ends up in court where he is given community service which involves helping a girl in a wheelchair with a debilitating disease, played brilliantly by Helena Bonham-Carter. Her mother wants her taken to museums & art gallleries but she finds this very boring & we have two people who are there due to circumstances beyond their control doing something they don't want to.
She is young & wants to have sex before she dies but her condition does not make her attractive. A plan is hatched to hire an escort to do the deed but he doesn't come cheap so Branner decides to rob the bank where he worked. This leads to some of the funniest moments in this black comedy.
I won't reveal any more of the p[lot as it will spoil the film for you but it is a very moving & surprisingly believable story. Be prepared to cry in places.
