Flyboys - 3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

I had a problem with the title of the film and then the point that it was a pure fictional account of the famed Lafayette Escadrille.The title is confusing with a book of the same name about a US WW11 fighter squadron and thus I think many went to see it for that reason.Since there are few pictures made of this war its also sad to see pure fiction even though the Escadrille was real and one wishes a more factual movie would have been made.Thats why I took 1 and 1/2 stars off.All that sad,it may be the best performance by James Franco to date and the rest of the cast is OK.The FX used in the flying scenes were exceptional and I enjoyed the ride once I came to grips that it was not the film I hoped but was ok for what it was meant to be,a exciting imaging of that war and those men.Trailer URL follows the pix and a IMDB summary below.Enjoy it for what it is.


Before the United States entered World War I, young Americans went to France to be fighter pilots, joining the Lafayette Escadrille. This fictional version follows a laconic Texas rancher, an eager Nebraska kid, a Black boxer already in France, and a New York swell, as they arrive green for training, get their baptism by fire when German planes ambush them on their first mission, and graduate to heroics. Rawlings, the Texan, falls in love with a young woman he meets at a bordello. Keeping their eyes on them are Captain Thenault and Cassidy, the resident ace, who keeps a pet lion. Can the boys measure up? Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpIXMVSnsOY