Flyboys is a cliche wrapped up in formula and shrouded by convention. I can’t say that there was a single surprise or twist that isn’t telegraphed miles before it happens; for that matter, the manipulative emotional scenes hardly manage to connect despite the soaring music and the obvious cues. While the flying scenes are fun, some of the combat scenes do raise the heartbeat a bit, and the acting is, generally, in that decent-to-good category, the movie never really manages to distinguish itself.

This is a shame since I’m not entirely opposed to playing the old standards. Steven Spielberg has made a career out of taking the most formulaic of Hollywood plots, manipulating emotions shamelessly, and giving moviegoers something compelling to watch. Saving Private Ryan was surprising only in the grittiness and brutality of its combat scenes; the plot contained few unanticipated turns, but the movie is still compelling.

So, in a way, I am the target audience for Flyboys. I love movies that celebrate courage and the idea of redemption, I’m thrilled by early aviation history, and I don’t really mind cliches in the service of a good movie. But Flyboys is a little more Pearl Harbor that it is Saving Private Ryan--just not so mind-bogglingly bad as the former.

There are some redeeming values to the film, not least of which is watching biplanes and triplanes circling each other in the sky. Computer generated or not (and most of them were) this is fun stuff. That isn’t to say that it looks real, because this movie doesn’t have that whiff of authenticity that the best war movies convey. It’s just that old Nieuports and Fokkers are cool regardless of the factual errors and anachronisms that more informed viewers will spot. Most of the rest of the good of the movie is either captured in Jean Reno’s light turn as the commanding officer of the unit and Jennifer Decker as the love interest (there had to be one), Lucienne. Decker makes the most of a fairly small role that is defined as much by her convincing acting as by her beauty.

The movie, about an early mostly-American volunteer group (think something similar to Chennault’s AVG before America’s entry into World War II) fighting as aviators in France. This is a topic with potential--it could have been good. Instead, it isn’t bad enough to be Pearl Harbor, but it isn’t good enough to recommend. The producers’ hearts were in the right place, but the script, like the characters, just isn’t developed enough despite the movie’s lengthy running time.

The best I can say is that it might have been a fun movie to rent on a lazy Saturday, cuddling up with your significant other and a big bowl of popcorn.