Irish feelgood movie "The Runway" grabs little bit of history

But interestingly, from start to finish, the kids in "The Runway" would have more in common with the heroes of any Steven Spielberg film than in any number of hard hitting historical Irish political dramas.

The kids in Power’s new film play Nintendo and are devoted to Masters of the Universe. As young heroes in Irish films go, they’re something new by being completely ordinary and recognizable.

“It’s a kids’ film and people might laugh at that because I wrote it, but kids’ films to me are "The Goonies" or "E.T."” Power told the press recently.

“Those were great films that I grew up with which weren’t condescending to you as a kid. And that meant that adults could watch them too and feel like they were also involved.

“That’s the kind of movie that we have here. It is set in 1983, and I wanted to give it a sense of how you remember your own childhood.”
Power has succeeded in that regard. From start to finish there’s a nostalgic glow over the proceedings that underlines the film is unfolding in memory, where’s its obviously cherished.

But it was cherished in reality too. When the original South American pilot, Captain Ruben Ocano, passed away on January 29 of this year he made the headlines again in Cork, where he’s still remembered for being the pilot who had to crash land his Mexican Gulfstream II jet on Mallow Racecourse there in April 1983.

Ocano enjoyed a five-week stay in Mallow where he became quite a celebrity (he even helped judge a beauty contest, an event reproduced in the film). Now there’s the kind of welcome that never wears itself out.

"The Runway" will open in the U.S. later this year.

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Nster.com