The Bumblebee Flies Anyway

The title refers to the unverified fact that bumblebees are not aerodynamically sound, but fly anyway, supposedly because they don't know that they can't. Extrapolate this to an experimental hospital where orphaned children with bone cancer are having their memory erased so that they will forget they are sick and you get the rather obscure premise of this film. Barney (Elijah Wood) wakes up in the seedy, half abandoned clinic, with only vague memories of his mother dying in a car accident and soon meets a cast of other young tabula rasas, all of whom seem far more aware of their situation (and the plot) than either the viewer or Barney. Barney's caseworker, Allie, played somnambulantly by Janeane Garofalo, advises him to stay “detached” from the other boys. Of course this soon proves impossible as Barney's memory becomes unclouded and an attachment develops between himself and Cassie (Rachel Leigh Cook), the conveniently gorgeous, healthy and nubile twin sister of a stubborn dying male patient. Cassie is certain that because of the psychosomatic connection between herself and her ailing bro, she will soon die too. If this sounds a bit perplexing and ridiculous…well, it is. Soon Barney is on the roof pushing Cassie's dying brother off in a homemade soapbox derby car similar to the one his mother died in, the music is swelling and Garofalo is calmly mouthing lines she clearly hates. With cars flying off roofs like butterflies and an incomprehensible ending lacking any sting, this dullsville plodder puts the bumble back in bumblebee. Not recommended. (R. Ray)