ByBrigit Grant, Brigit Grant
1 min read
Paper Planes (12A)
Children don't get nearly as much attention as they deserve at the cinema. They remain the untapped captive audience due to the small number of films released specifically for them. Maybe it's just a sign of these technological times that they no longer need the Super Saturday Kids' Club that I grew up with watching back-to-back adventure features made by the Children's Film Foundation. But I think they do, and Australian director Robert Connolly obviously agrees as he has made the delightfully old-fashioned and heart-warming Paper Planes. As described on the tin this film is quite literally about paper planes and the young boy Dylan (Ed Oxenbould) who becomes obssessed with them as they distract him from the loss of his mother who has died in a car crash and having to cope with a grieving father (Sam Worthington) who has retreated to the sofa. When a new teacher at his school in the outback presents the class with a paper plane flying challenge, Dylan draws on the paper-folding skills his mum taught him and becomes enough of an expert to qualify for the world championships in Japan.
Dylan even wins the support of his former-bully friend (Julian Dennison) and you are rooting for him the whole time because he is such a positive kid in spite of his problems.
As a lesson in what life could be like for children if they put down their hand-held devices, Paper Planes is sterling stuff and Ed Oxenbould who starred in the hilarious (for kids) Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is a gifted young actor who will charm children and adults alike. Paper Planes is life-affirming material for half-term.