Wahoo, I've finally gotten to Keanu Reeves' first full-length movie, a Canadian film called "Flying," or...perhaps it was called "Teenage Dream," or possibly even "Dream to Believe." A movie so bad it has three different titles!
On Keanu's official IMDB page, the movie is called "Flying," but the movie page lists "Dream to Believe" as an alternate title, but yet the cover art shows that it's called "Teenage Dream." I mean, what the fuck is going on here?
"Flying," or "Teenage Dream," or "Dream to Believe" was, can you even believe it, a Canadian film starring Olivia D'Abo as Robin, a high school gymnast at a new school, trying to recover from a car accident that killed her father and left her knee injured. While Keanu Reeves certainly is prominent in this movie, the cover art above is downright confusing. Olivia D'Abo is unquestionably the star of the movie and Keanu is in a supporting role yet he's apparently taking up 80% of the cover art. I know Keanu is good looking, but D'Abo wasn't so bad herself so this cover art is just strange, not to mention that it's got the weird, alternate third title.
I couldn't find any record of this movie on Box Office Mojo, so I don't know if it was actually released in theaters anywhere in the world and by that I mean Canada, which really might have been for the best.
"Flying" plays out like a relatively cliche 80s high school movie about a kid trying to overcome some odds to win the big game - in this case, a regional gymnastics meet in Niagara Falls. It's got just about everything you'd expect from a movie in this genre including multiple training montages, the mean kids at school who bully Robin relentlessly, and a dreamy love interest - Keanu Reeves as Tommy.
There are also some very weird choices that are shown and then just sort of glossed over. For instance, about halfway through the movie, Robin's mother suddenly dies and we're never told how it happened. She just gets a phone call (while she's at a concert) that her mother is in the hospital and then the next scene Robin's at a funeral. It's downright bizarre. There's also another scene where her best friend on the gymnastics team is caught abusing diet pills and then that's also just never mentioned again. What are you trying to tell me, Flying/Dream To Believe/Teenage Dream? WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO TELL ME?
Robin's reaction to her mother's sudden death is to go shack up with Tommy, whose parents are apparently out of town, and then we get a very odd montage of Tommy and Robin's weekend together where apparently he takes her to Plow Town on multiple occasions and serves her breakfast in bed. It's all just really weird.
What the fuck is this?
One other interesting tidbit - the actor who played Keanu's asshole landlord in the TV short "One Step Away" from my previous post is also in this movie as Robin's abusive employer/step-father. I guess there aren't that many actors in Canada.
There are some other problematic aspects of this movie:
*The jive talking black characters - the security guard who lets Robin practice gymnastics late at night at the factory he watches over (he is a huge fan that likes to dance along as she practices a floor routine amongst random machinery) and his friend, the only other black person in the movie who happens to be Robin's bus driver because why wouldn't the only two black people in Canada be friends with each other?
No, what the fuck is this?
*The over sexualization of what I'm assuming is supposed to be a 16 or 17 year old girl - some of her training montages are....well....see for yourself.
Jesus Christ, what the fuck is this??
Okay, it might be hard to see this exactly, but this was a crotch shot of her doing some strength training that if I didn't know any better I'd think came from a Cinemax movie at 1AM.
*Whatever the fuck this lady is -
OH GOD WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?
I don't know if this hairstyle was a choice or perhaps if it was the style in 1986 in Canada or if she got this done to herself on a dare. It might be the single worst haircut in Canadian movie history.
Anyway, Robin eventually trains her way to Niagara Falls and wins the guy and wins the competition, the end.
If you're into gymnastics in the 80's you can do yourself a favor and skip this one and go straight onto "Gymkata."
BEST PART: The gymnastic team coach's hair. Easily.
WORST PART: Hmm, the over sexualization of underage girls? The constant training montages? The troubling representation of the only two black characters? Take your pick.
WORST PART: Hmm, the over sexualization of underage girls? The constant training montages? The troubling representation of the only two black characters? Take your pick.
Box Office Mojo information: None. As far as BOM is concerned, this movie doesn't exist and I'm guessing Keanu is a-ok with that.
Rotten Tomatoes: No Ratings
IMDB: 5.2
My Movie Rating: 3/10. It's definitely the worst gymnastics movie I've ever seen but not the worst 80's sports movie.
Keanu Rating: 5/10. He doesn't have a whole lot to work with here but he definitely comes off as likable.
Up next - the 1986 TV Movie, "Brotherhood of Justice" starring Keanu Reeves, Kiefer Sutherland, and noted fraudster Lori Loughlin. Wow, I'm excited!
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