The Boy Who Could Fly
Twentieth Century Fox | Release Date: August 15, 1986 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
67
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Washington PostRichard Harrington
You don't have to be young or old to enjoy it this lovely, engaging film, just open-minded, or at least bighearted. At once funny, sad, moving, inspirational and revealing, The Boy Who Could Fly suspends the law of emotional gravity, soaring at just the right moments. Read full review
80
EmpireGavin Bainbridge
A commendable rarity: a sensitive children’s film that neither patronises them nor insults their intelligence. Read full review
80
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
A gentle and affecting film that ought to charm older children while also holding their parents' interest, Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderPat Graham
It's easy to pick this emotional bunny rabbit apart—for the sentimental bathos, the literalism, the radiating wholesomeness (everything David Lynch parodied in Blue Velvet, down to the impeccable small-town streets and flowers framed against a screaming blue sky . . . only Castle gives it to you straight, without irony)—though what's remarkable here, and altogether rare, is the artifice and polish of Castle's studio-rooted style. Read full review
80
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
Under Nick Castle’s careful direction, scenes never become maudlin, which is remarkable considering the potential of the subject matter. Deakins and Underwood handle their difficult roles with amazing grace. Read full review
80
Washington PostDorothy MacKinnon
It's funny and sad and a little surreal, the kind of movie that makes you willingly suspend your disbelief. You don't have to be a kid to enjoy it, but you'll feel like one again when it's over. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Movies like this can be insufferable if they lay it on too thick. The Boy Who Can Fly finds just about the right balance between its sunny message and the heartbreak that's always threatening to prevail. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
This is a strikingly original story about human feelings. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldAri Z. Posner
If ever there was a textbook "feel good picture," this is it. It's not a bad film, either, but director Nick Castle is afraid to let anyone go home without a glazed respect for all living things, and the result is too much syrup. [26 Sept 1986, p.D11]
60
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
The Boy Who Could Fly is as fragile as a kite, yet it’s kept aloft by the commitment of writer-director Nick Castle and the talent and presence of lovely young Lucy Deakins, who has that crucial gift of catching us up in her imagination. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneJohanna Steinmetz
The surreal is appropriate to a story based on fantasy, but the unevenness in tone here makes watching ''The Boy Who Could Fly'' a little like hitting airpockets in a puddlejumper. Read full review
40
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
Director Castle gets lost in fantasy, spoiling a promising portrait with some heavy-handed emotional manipulation and an escapist conclusion. Read full review
40
Orlando SentinelJay Boyar
Backhanded compliments are pretty much the only ones The Boy Who Could Fly deserves. The subjects, here, are childhood and illness: topics that otherwise tough-minded people are inclined to approach with uncharacteristic sentimentality. But though the film is both sappy and cliched, it's not as sappy or cliched as might be expected. All things considered, it could have been a lot worse. Read full review
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