In Japanese with English & Chinese Subtitles
Genre: Comedy
Director: Shinobu Yaguchi
Cast: Seiichi Tanabe, Saburô Tokitô, Haruka Ayase, Kazue Fukiishi, Shinobu Terajima, Ittoku Kishibe
RunTime: 1 hr 43 mins
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Rating: PG
Official Website: http://www.happyflight.jp

Opening Day: 26 November 2009

Synopsis:

Japan's feel-good maestro Shinobu Yaguchi ("Waterboys" & "Swing Girls") aims high and comes in for a safe landing with "Happy Flight," a succulently played ensembler centered on an accident-prone journey from Tokyo to Honolulu - first when the on-board computer malfunctions a couple hours into the flight, and when a typhoon threatens Tokyo after the plane turns back. The story develops in a perfect concoction of tension-comedy faced by the cabin crew and passengers.

Movie Review:

From the Wright Brothers’ first flight that lasted only 12 seconds to the recent Airbus A380, air travel have often intrigue us in certain ways. For some, it might dreams of landing a job as a pilot or stewardess and travel around the world. For others, it might be a chance romance against the human traffic at the terminal or on board a plane. On the morbid ends, there might be some who are fascinated with airplane crashes and other form mishaps. Regardless of the respective interests on the various facets of the air transport system, as technology advances, we the passengers had begun to take for granted that every flight will be a safe and pleasant flight. As a simple nudge to such assumption, Happy Flight is here to remind us of the various diligent crew members that ensure our safety and comfort during flight time.
 
Using a rookie stewardess’s first international flight and a pilot’s captain test flight as the main perspective of what goes on behind a flight, viewers are treated to plenty funny bungling antics by this two newbies. Their amateurish mistakes often crash with the season seniors’ work process and through those comedic episodes; we get to appreciate the pressure and difficulties that these flight crew face at each flight.

Beside the flight crew, Happy Flight also scrutinizes the various ground crews that work to support the flight. There are the engineers, the air traffic controllers; the customers service representatives and even a bird management crew member that prevents birds from striking the planes. For some, it might be overwhelming to take on so many personals from various departments but director Shinobu Yaguchi (who had directed movies like Waterboys and Swing Girls) had no problem in allocating just the right amount of focus on their various job scope and importance to everyday flight.

Happy Flight then examines the tie that blinds all these crew members together with a little airline crisis. A malfunction with the plane navigation and extremely bad weather affecting the airport gave the various departments an unexpected chain of events to solve. Together, they show 'grace under fire' professionalism and quirky 'out of the box' solutions to their problem. Within the short time span, it also explores the generation gaps in the workforce and how they could cooperate to tackle the crisis in front of them.

The Japan's feel-good maestro Shinobu Yaguchi skillfully weaves a tale that shows how important various level personals are to the airline industry. Everyone in this industry, no matter what’s their job scope, is part of a safe and pleasant flight. They are like blots and rivets that holds the whole operation together. Happy Flight does not go overly melodramatic with the crisis and yet, in its lighthearted ways, it left a memorable mark on how to solve crisis by being professionals. Happy Flight might be about the airline industry but the dedication to each individual job scope should be easily felt across all workforces.

Movie Rating:



(A first class lighthearted comedy about the airline industry

Review by Richard Lim Jr