THE STORY – Set in the golden age of aviation, a young airplane enthusiast, Jeff and his mother set off on a one-way cross-country odyssey to Hollywood, which transforms a simple flight into the trip of a lifetime. Between airline meals, charming flight attendants, unexpected stopovers, larger-than-life passengers, and a thrilling glimpse at first class, the journey unfolds in moments both magical and unexpected, charting the course for the boy’s future.
THE CAST – Clark Shotwell, Kelly Eviston-Quinnett, Ella Bleu Travolta, Olga Hoffmann & John Travolta
THE TEAM – John Travolta (Director/Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 61 minutes
When he’s not busy acting in a wide array of movies, John Travolta famously loves flying. As in, at the time of this writing, the “Other ventures” section of his Wikipedia page is 99% aviation and 1% philanthropy. A licensed pilot, he has often flown himself to special events where he was a guest of honor and could fly from and to his Florida home, which is situated on the grounds of a private airport. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that, for his directorial debut at the age of 72, Travolta chose to combine his two passions, film and planes, into one entity: “Propeller One-Way Night Coach,” based on the children’s book of the same name he penned in 1997.
Travolta himself narrates the movie as an older version of Jeff (Clark Shotwell), a young boy living in New York with his mother (Kelly Eviston-Quinnett), an actress with Hollywood aspirations but not much to show for it besides the occasional gig as an extra. When an opportunity to advance her career presents itself, she takes her son with her on a multi-stop night plane to Los Angeles. For her, it’s the chance of a lifetime. For him, who already enjoyed watching the flying machines in the sky, it’s the beginning of a lifelong obsession with all things aviation, then in a fairly nascent state (as this takes place in the early 1960s, the Boeing 707 – one of Travolta’s real-life planes – is still a fairly new thing).
Loosely based on the Hollywood star’s childhood, “Propeller One-Way Night Coach” is a very personal affair: the protagonist’s name, Jeff, is only one letter removed from Jett, Travolta’s firstborn, who tragically passed away in 2009 (and who served as the impetus for writing the original book). In fact, the dedications section in the end credits is entirely about family (John’s late wife, Kelly Preston, their three children, and – without naming them – his parents and siblings). There are multiple Travoltas involved: his daughter, Ella, plays one of the flight attendants, and his two sisters, Ellen and Margaret, appear in minor roles. Given the emphasis he has always placed on those bonds (he took a break from acting following Preston’s death in 2020), it feels appropriate that the emotional stakes, such as there are in this most child-friendly approach to the man’s love for the sky, are all about a boy’s connection to his mother.
Make no mistake, this is very slight material, basically Travolta reading out loud from the book as his fictionalized boyhood comes to life on the screen over the course of an hour. Yes, the film is a mere 61 minutes long, which explains why most people will experience it directly on a streaming service (namely, Apple TV). In the age of linear television, it would have been some sort of special, a medium-length effort – perhaps running 90 minutes with commercial breaks – benefiting from its creator’s clout to make it on the airwaves (and maybe also from the popularity of other period pieces set in similar times, like “Mad Men”). It is pleasantly enjoyable, but also harmless and inconsequential, almost to a fault (even by family-friendly standards, there isn’t much going on in terms of pure incident). The thing most likely to offend some, albeit justified by historical context, is the extensive depiction of smoking, still allowed on airlines at the time.
And yet, it is a bit of a shame Apple’s platform will provide the vast majority of views for “Propeller One-Way Night Coach,” because while the storytelling ambitions may be modest, the visual ones are not. The animated opening credits alone, with echoes of the beginning of Steven Spielberg’s “Catch Me If You Can,” are immaculately executed, perfectly capturing the vibe and aesthetics of the era, and the production design does the same, conjuring an entire bygone world (no small feat, considering the lion’s share of the story takes place inside an airplane). Such is Travolta’s eye for recreating the decade that truly changed his life; one can only hope this won’t be his sole experience behind the camera.
The acting is also solid, although the over-reliance on narration means Shotwell, at the same time a stand-in for Travolta and his son, doesn’t necessarily get to develop the character on his own terms. Still, it’s an enthusiastic performance that conveys a childlike sense of wonder in a straightforward yet engaging manner. Given his director’s first-timer status, the occasional awkwardness in his line readings is understandable, and if this is the baseline, the young boy shows a fair amount of promise, should he wish to continue pursuing the profession as he grows older.
All in all, “Propeller One-Way Night Coach” may be slightly more interesting from a meta perspective than a strictly cinematic one. Still, the sincerity that permeates every frame makes up for a lot of its shortcomings. It’s unlikely to cater to many people outside of Travolta’s most ardent fanbase, but even on those terms, it’s an enjoyable way to spend an hour in the sky.
