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THE AERONAUTS Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones star in epic high-fl ying tale Wild Rose director Tom Harper transforms true events from Victorian England into an epic tale of derring-do. Some of the emotional baggage tends towards the earthbound but when The Aeronauts takes to the skies it is a fi lm that positively soars. balloon. It has the advantage of a parachute, unlike the two humans, who also seem to have forgotten to pack any warming headgear. On a technical level, the fi lm is an immersive
In 1862, pioneering meteorologist James Glaisher (Eddie Redmayne) takes fl ight in the strongest and largest hot air balloon ever built. His pilot is fearless widow Amelia Wren (Felicity Jones, playing a fi ctional character based, in part, on Sophie Blanchard, and replacing aeronaut Henry Coxwell in events). Wren arrives with a fl ourish of crowd-pleasing theatrics and jettisons her dog from the
marvel, while Jack Thorne’s screenplay neatly layers in fl ashbacks that establish Glaisher’s battles with a scornful academic establishment and Amelia’s lingering trauma from the death of her husband. They are the more predictable elements in a fi lm of great charm that underlines the fond chemistry between Jones and Redmayne that previously served The Theory of Everything so well. (Allan Hunter) ■ General release from Mon 4 Nov ●●●●●
1 Nov 2019–31 Jan 2020 THE LIST 91