Miguel Albadalejo's last movie so far is a curious mix of bitter-sweet comedy and soft drama. The story is that of a famous child-delinquent from Getafe (in the South of the province of Madrid) in the early 80s. Being under the age of eleven, "el pera" -the boy's nickname- had already participated in several thefts, assaults, crazy drivings running away from the police and several other crimes. He was so good a driver that nowadays he trains policemen to follow runaway criminals.
The film tries hard to avoid self-righteousness, but the hatred towards morale leaves viewers without a sound point of view. The script is not very solidly built, being just a succession of loose events, and the roles and personalities of some characters are not clear. The impression is that Albadalejo misses the point, and that the film lacks strength.
However, there are some fine moments, most of them related to the main character's family life. Throughout his filmography, Albadalejo has demonstrated his knack to depict the most comic aspects of the common Spanish people in the tradition of master director José Luis García Berlanga. In "Volando Voy", home violence is portrayed as a result of the father's anger and lack of education and money, not as a vicious kind of violence. The motivation of the child's behaviour, looking for love and affection, and thinking he is not receiving any from his family, is not consistently portrayed.
To sum up, the film has serious flaws, and seem to go from comedy to drama without transitions, leaving an aftertaste of unbalance.
The film tries hard to avoid self-righteousness, but the hatred towards morale leaves viewers without a sound point of view. The script is not very solidly built, being just a succession of loose events, and the roles and personalities of some characters are not clear. The impression is that Albadalejo misses the point, and that the film lacks strength.
However, there are some fine moments, most of them related to the main character's family life. Throughout his filmography, Albadalejo has demonstrated his knack to depict the most comic aspects of the common Spanish people in the tradition of master director José Luis García Berlanga. In "Volando Voy", home violence is portrayed as a result of the father's anger and lack of education and money, not as a vicious kind of violence. The motivation of the child's behaviour, looking for love and affection, and thinking he is not receiving any from his family, is not consistently portrayed.
To sum up, the film has serious flaws, and seem to go from comedy to drama without transitions, leaving an aftertaste of unbalance.