SXSW Film
Daily reviews and interviews
By Joe O'Connell, Fri., March 18, 2011
Fly Away
Narrative Feature CompetitionD: Janet Grillo; with Beth Broderick, Ashley Rickards, Greg Germann
Becoming a parent means giving up a big part of your life as it was. Being the single parent of an autistic child multiplies that by a trillion. In Fly Away, Beth Broderick plays a mother focused on her increasingly out-of-control teenage daughter (Rickards). Everything else falls away – a telecommuting job, any semblance of a love life. Every moment is spent trying to tame chaos. The film's success is largely on Broderick's shoulders, and the actress is fully up to the task. We feel her pain, understand the depths of her love for her daughter, want to kick her in the pants for her tunnel vision of a life. Rickards' portrayal of autism is just as spot-on. The photography and story are simple and focused, and that's fine in a film that is ultimately a lesson in letting go and accepting the realities life has dealt you.
Thursday, March 17, 1:30pm, State
