Those involved in this movie, were either exceptional illusionist, or they were able to somehow bend the laws of nature & simultaneously, circumvent universal law, by fitting a square peg into a round hole.
In all sincerity & candor, this film had the raw-potential, of being something really special & ultimately, connect w humanity, in a deeply profound & emotional way. The estimated $24 million budget for this film, isn't necessarily 'chump-change', but then again, it's still a far cry, from Hollywood's ever-increasing consideration, for a healthy 'median budget'.
But w respect to filming-budgets in general, (as a scapegoat for poorly developed scripts), suffice to say, lot better movies have been produced w much less financial backing, while conversely, much larger funded pictures, have done quiet worse.
Nevertheless, there's is a lot of shared blame & finger-pointing to go around in this production of 'On A Wing & A Prayer', yet perhaps the core fault-line, originates from a deafening-silent, lack of foundation or {rooted} structure, from which many decent films, tap into their momentum/direction. Frankly, it was often difficult to discern Quaid's (character) acting. If he, was playing an (on the wagon), struggling alcoholic that, somehow got caught up as a passenger, riding 'right seat' in a private twin engine airplane, when simultaneously, he started going through withdrawal & also, the airplane's only pilot died of heart failure! ..... or did Quaid's character have some undisclosed medical condition & forgot to bring his medication?
Granted, the writers/directors here, are allowed poetic license, to get & be creative w character-development, but in the real-world, (of any non-pilot individual), ending up behind a yoke & avionics of a complex twin-engine aircraft that, exhibits such anxiety & radical behavior, is going to react accordingly, and much less, not be able to land a twin-engine plane.
For example, anyone that's watched a Dennis Quaid Movie, within the last decade, knows very well that, he is a monstrous talent & an A+ actor. Yet, Quaid seems (directionally) lost in this film, resulting in what appears to be overacting, most likely a byproduct of poor directional acumen.
For lack of a better analogy, back in the 80's & early 90's, the advertising agency for SAB Miller, parent company to Miller Beer, crushed a grand slam home run ad, using (pun-intended), the refreshing ad tagline 'Less is More', {referring of course, to beer-drinkers getting more taste, from a beer that's less-filling!
Subsequently, a 'less is more' approach here, may have fallen short of the necessary runtime, to qualify the movie accordingly; however, the movie, 'On A Wing A Prayer', took in excess of 100 minutes, to tell (at best), an hour (or so) long story.
In all sincerity, one VERY positive aspect about this movie, is how the director/product we, was able to incorporate, actual 'live' footage of the family & individual family members that, were aboard the actual aircraft. Perhaps watching the last 20 minutes of this movie, is all that's needed, to help setup this movie's epilogue, when the live footage of the real family members involved, start to appear on screen!
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