Fly Away (2011)

The poignant yet humor filled story about a single mother of a teenager severely impacted by autism, forced to reckon with her daughter's future. As her child becomes an adult, what used to... See full summary »

Director:

Janet Grillo

Writer:

Janet Grillo

Stars:

Beth Broderick, Ashley Rickards, Aramazd Stepanian

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Beth Broderick	...	Jeanne
Ashley Rickards	...	Mandy
Aramazd Stepanian	...	Mr. Parseghian
Promotion	...	Rozwell the Dog
Peter Binswanger	...	Kid in Van
Greg Germann	...	Tom
Maui	...	Juno the Dog
Denise Dowse	...	Susan (as Denise Y. Dowse)
Jonathan Shestack	...	Samuels (as Jon Shestack)
Reno	...	Liz Howell
Jay Sincere	...	Assistant
Matthew Antonio Grillo Russell	...	Ice Cream Shop Server #1 (as Matthew Grillo Russell)
Angela Grillo	...	Elderly Woman
Sheridan Cole	...	Ice Cream Shop Patron (as Sheridan M. Cole)
Marisa Laurence	...	Ice Cream Shop Patron

Storyline

The poignant yet humor filled story about a single mother of a teenager severely impacted by autism, forced to reckon with her daughter's future. As her child becomes an adult, what used to work, no longer does. What will sustain her daughter, and herself? A parent-child love story, when love means letting go.

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Plot Keywords:

love | autism | single mother | female protagonist | parenting

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 April 2011 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cricket Films, Ministry of Content

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"Radio"
Written by Holly Rothschild & Luke Rothschild
Performed by Holly Rothschild & Luke Rothschild
String Theory Sphere Publishing - BMI

User Reviews

A very sensitive film that you will not forget

This is such a wonderful film that you will never forget in your life. It's not "Rainman", no big studio film to entertain masses. "Fly away" digs so much deeper into reality. It will touch you so deep inside.

The story of Jeanne and her autistic daughter Mandy. It's almost impossible for the mother to manager her life because she always has to take care of her daughter. Even a love romance with the new neighbor looks impossible and so does work when she loses a deal because Mandy deleted some files on her laptop. Jeanne visits a school for autistic kids and has to make the hardest decision in her life: to let Mandy go to live her life and to start living her own life.

There are so many intense scenes between mother and daughter. Even when they go out eating pizza and just having fun people look at Mandy without any understanding and tell her mother if she can't handle her she shouldn't go out with her. One of the most beautiful scenes in this film is when Jeanne already has an car accident because of Mandy's behavior during the drive. Jeanne stops the car and starts crying. Then Mandy sings for her "Ladybird", the song Jeanne always sang to her daughter when she woke up in the middle of the night crying and then she also tells her to breath in and breath out like her mother always did to her.

Ashley Richards gives an impressive performance as Mandy. She is so deep in her role that you just realize in the "Making of" that she is not really autistic. Beth Broderick plays Jeanne very sensitive and heart-touching. She is a great actress and this is one of her best parts ever. Both play their roles without makeup and give up all vanity. Beth is such a beauty she even looks great without makeup.

In the "Making of" everyone talks about their motivation about this project and so we hear that director/writer Janet Grillo has an autistic son and that Beth Broderick's sister works with autistic persons so that is why this film is so impressive.