Fly Away Home MPAA Rating: PG Entertainment: +3 Content: +1/2

Thirteen-year-old Amy Alden (Anna Paquin) is having a difficult time adjusting to the death of her mother and to her new rural home with her estranged dad in southern Ontario, Canada. But she gets a new lease on life when she discovers and raises a flock of baby geese. They bond with her as their mother, but there's a problem. Come winter, the geese will instinctively migrate to the south, but won't have any parent geese to lead them. So, her inventive dad (Jeff Daniels) builds an ultra light airplane for Anna to fly and lead them to a water wilderness area in North Carolina. He also builds one for himself to guide Anna. Their daring flight alongside the geese is full of unexpected adventures, including a forced landing at a military air base and a crash landing in a forest. They even get off-course and fly between the buildings in downtown Baltimore. Amy's caring relationship with the geese and her flight with them is touching and lots of fun. Children are likely to be fascinated with this story and wish they could fly a plane just like Anna.

Anna's dad loves her very much and does everything he can to help her adjust to her misfortune and new surroundings. He also helps her care for the geese and develops the plan to help them migrate safely. However, he has an attractive lady friend (Dana Delany) who lives with him, although they are not shown in any sexual involvement. The film implies, though, that their live-in relationship is acceptable. Also, an eastern mystical concept is espoused when Anna's dad tells her that her deceased mother's spirit is all around them - in the geese, the sky and other places. The dialogue includes only a few mild crude words and one s-word, undoubtedly to avoid a G rating. There's no sexual content or nudity in the film, although Anna's dad and another man accidentally see Anna nude in a shower room. FLY AWAY HOME will probably appeal primarily to children under 15 and can be considered marginally acceptable. But it should be noted that it has one obscenity and a misleading live-in message and New Age concept.

Preview Reviewer: John Evans
Distributor: Columbia Pictures, 10202 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232