The Aeronauts

Based on true events, The Aeronauts follows a balloon pilot (Felicity Jones’ Amelia Wren) and a scientist (Eddie Redmayne’s James Glaisher) as they find themselves fighting for their lives after a gas-balloon flight goes awry. Filmmaker Tom Harper, armed with Jack Thorne’s screenplay, delivers an erratic endeavor that admittedly grows more and more absorbing as it unfolds, as the movie, which kicks off with a decent yet almost distractingly slick opening stretch, eventually progresses into a midsection and second half focused predominantly on Amelia and James’ perilous exploits within the aforementioned balloon – with the impact of these scenes heightened by Harper’s dizzying visual choices and top-notch work by both Jones and Redmayne. It’s clear, then, that The Aeronauts‘ overall impact is hindered by its ongoing emphasis on flashbacks of a decidedly needless variety, with the inclusion of these digressions, which are seemingly designed to flesh out the protagonists’ respective backstories, generally wreaking havoc on the movie’s momentum and, ultimately, contributing little to the narrative’s overall impact (ie it seems clear that the level of tension within the balloon would’ve been elevated considerably without such detours). Still, The Aeronauts generally comes off as an engaging and periodically thrilling endeavor that should’ve topped out at around 80 minutes.

*** out of ****