The Theory of Flight

Synopsis

Richard, a struggling artist in the midst of a breakdown that has left his career and his love life in tatters, attempts an ill-conceived insurance fraud and gets caught. He is sentenced to 120 hours of community service in lieu of jail. His assignment: to act as a 'caregiver' for Jane, a young woman confined to a wheelchair due to a rare degener-ative neurological disorder.

Jane turns out to be anything but a timid and helpless paraplegic. Sheepish Richard finds his charge sarcastic, profane and mischievous, and as uninhibited as he is repressed. At first, Richard is convinced that he's the wrong man for the job, but he and Jane soon settle into a truce that blossoms into a deep and mutually supportive friendship. Then Jane shocks Richard by announcing that it is his responsibility to help her achieve her fondest, most impossible wish: to experience, along with the rest of humanity, the joy of sexual intimacy ... a request that forces Richard into a tailspin of conflicting feelings and wild adventures.

Details

Year

1997

Type of film

Features

Format

35mm

Director

Paul Greengrass

Producer

David M. Thompson

Executive Producer

David M. Thompson

Director of Photography

Ivan Strasburg

Principal Cast

Helena Bonham Carter, Kenneth Branagh

Screen Writer

Richard Hawkins

Genre

Production status

Complete

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Last updated 25th November 2005