John Travolta has decided to put on his best berets and step into the director’s chair. After working as a beloved actor for 50 years, Travolta debuted his 60-minute feature, Propeller One-Way Night Coach, at the Cannes Film Festival, where he was awarded an honorary Palme d’Or. Travolta went viral while promoting the film, thanks to his quirky choice to embody classic film directors. Now, Propeller One-Way Night Coach is available to stream on Apple TV+, but does it live up to Travolta’s memorable press tour?
Propeller One-Way Night Coach is based on the children’s novella of the same name that Travolta wrote in 1997. It tells the story of a young boy and aviation enthusiast who takes his first flight in 1962. The film is unlike anything you’ll watch this year. With this new project, Travolta’s eccentricities are in full force in front of and behind the camera. While the movie doesn’t always work, it is anything but dull. The unorthodox way Travolta chose to adapt his book makes for a unique viewing experience. We cannot promise you’ll love Propeller One-Way Night Coach, but it’s a whimsical production that needs to be seen to be believed.
How Propeller One-Way Night Coach Compares To The Book
Travolta has spent a lifetime being passionate about aviation. Propeller One-Way Night Coach is his love letter to air travel, and a nod to his memories of flying as a young boy. At the film’s Los Angeles premiere, Travolta’s eldest sister, Ellen Travolta, shared the story of surprising her younger brother with plane tickets when he was 8-years-old. They took the round trip from Newark to Philadelphia for only $25 so John could experience his first flight. The story is loosely based on that experience; only the young boy in the film is named Jeff (Clark Shotwell), and he’s taking a trip with his mother, Helen (Kelly Eviston-Quinnett). They take multiple planes while traveling from New York’s Idlewild Airport to LAX.
Travolta initially wrote Propeller One-Way Night Coach to be a Christmas gift for his family and friends. He ended up getting a positive response from readers and decided to publish it. The most interesting thing about the adaptation is that it is, almost word-for-word, the same as the book. Travolta narrates the movie by taking the audiobook approach. He is practically reading the book out loud as the events unfold onscreen. Whether or not you’re familiar with the novella, this is an undeniably odd way to adapt a story.
Travolta’s singular take on adaptations leads to a surreal viewing experience. By watching the film, you are being transported into Travolta’s mind. Just like the book, the narration comes across as a stream-of-consciousness. Travolta’s writing is so specific that it’s almost hard to believe the story is not a retelling of the travel experience he once had with his sister.
The Weirdness of John Travolta’s Brainchild
Every character in Propeller One-Way Night Coach is seen through the eyes of Jeff, but explained by his older self. This makes him an engaging yet unreliable narrator. Oftentimes, that leads to some genuinely funny moments. Travolta also has to do a lot of heavy lifting when it comes to bringing Jeff to life. Shotwell is absolutely adorable, but his casting seems more rooted in his resemblance to Travolta than his acting ability. Thankfully, his uneven performance meshes well with a movie filled with first experiences. The choice to cast someone so green feels intentional.
Not only is Travolta narrating as an older Jeff, but he also appears in the film as a retiring pilot. That means the little boy’s older voice, which the audience hears consistently throughout the film, matches the voice of a late-addition character. It’s incredibly jarring, and it’s not the only baffling character to pop up. During his first plane ride, Jeff meets “The Ten-Foot Tall Man” from the Barnum & Bailey Circus, who offers him an autograph before abruptly disappearing. It’s such a strange moment, but one that adds to the film’s dreamlike experience. Did Jeff actually meet a giant man, or is it a memory warped by time?
The film also features Travolta’s real-life daughter, Ella Bleu Travolta, whom he shares with his late wife, Kelly Preston. Ella Bleu is a genuine mix of both her parents and exudes a special sweetness on screen. She is soft-spoken like her father, and striking like her mother. There isn’t much depth to her character, a young flight attendant named Doris, so it’s hard to say if she’s inherited her parents’ talent. Hopefully, she will be given the opportunity to showcase her skills with a meatier role down the line. Without spoiling the film, Doris has a wild ending. It’s a surprising left turn that would make audiences uncomfortable even if the role wasn’t being played by Travolta’s own daughter. However, it is the same ending Doris has in the book, which predates Ella’s birth by three years.
Why Propeller One-Way Night Coach Is Worth Watching
While so much of Propeller One-Way Night Coach could be described as “weird,” it is also deeply charming. Travolta/Jeff’s passion for aviation is infectious. Even if you have zero interest in learning about planes and how flights operated in the ’60s, Jeff’s enthusiasm for air travel is lovely. Anyone who has a special interest can relate to the character’s eagerness.
As for Travolta’s first attempt at directing, it’s clear that the role doesn’t come as naturally to him as acting. He said himself that he’d only be interested in directing again if it were a project he truly loved (via Reuters). That being said, he’s certainly not incompetent behind the scenes. Travolta understands that the planes are the movie’s true stars and takes his time showing them off throughout the movie. He makes some eye-catching choices, leaving the viewer feeling satisfied despite the film’s short runtime. If you’re a fan of Travolta, it’s worth watching just to see him try something new. He’s such a likable person that it’s extremely difficult not to root for his projects to be successful.
Propeller One-Way Night Coach is now streaming on Apple TV+.
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