The Runway (2012)

It's the feel-good stuff that directors dream of, and Ian Power's directorial debut has a broad, gentle appeal that will please all.

Adventurous and engaging, particularly for those who love Irish cinema

This is a good, if rather unimpressive, film. It certainly has a lot of heart and an absolutely gorgeous and quaint Irish village. I don't really have much to say about this film, it's got a damn good cast and some funny moments, it's never hilarious but it has some good jokes. Cliched jokes, the language barrier, cultural differences, etc, but some funny jokes nonetheless. It isn't consistently funny either, but I can't complain. The story is well-told and sees Paco connecting with and befriending Ernesto, whose plane crashes in his village, because of his father's absence. Paco also gets the entire village, by making up stuff about Ernesto in order to make him look heroic, to help fix Ernesto's plane in order to get him back home. It's good but, again, not particularly impressive. You've seen this type of story before and you will see it again, and probably done much better than this. I liked the movie, but I never felt like Paco and Ernesto truly made a connection, I find that this film is lacking emotional depth. I still think the film is charming, thanks to its setting, and its quirky characters but it didn't really always click with me. Perfectly solid movie though, just one that should've been better all things considered. A good movie that you'll forget about in a week's time.