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Prime Video's On a Wing and a Prayer is a biographical survival film directed by Sean McNamara. It is based on the real-life story of a small-town man named Doug White, who landed his family safely after the pilot of the private plane they were on died mid-flight.
The film stars Dennis Quaid as Doug White, Heather Graham as his wife Terri White, Jesse Metcalfe as Kari, Brett Rice as Jeff White, Jessi Case as Maggie, Rocky Myers as Dan Favio, Anna Enger Ritch as Ashley, and Raina Grey as Donna.
The official synopsis of the film reads:
"In this extraordinary true story of faith and survival, ON A WING AND A PRAYER follows passenger Doug White’s (Dennis Quaid) harrowing journey to safely land a plane and save his entire family from insurmountable danger, after their pilot dies unexpectedly mid-flight."
Warning: This article contains major spoilers from On a Wing and a Prayer.
Although dealing with a promising plotline, On a Wing and a Prayer fails to bring the excitement factor
On a Wing and a Prayer takes place on the Easter Sunday of 2009. 56-year-old pharmacist Doug White, his wife Teri, and two daughters were back on a private plane to Louisiana after attending the funeral of Doug’s brother. Although everything seems normal after taking off, their pilot suddenly dies.
The courageous patriarch of the family takes over from here, determined to land the plane safely. Doug has some flying experience and is helped by air traffic controllers and a flight instructor named Kari. Although the film was supposed to be inspirational and an ode to human resilience, the final product was sloppy with mediocre execution.
If compared to Clint Eastwood's Sully, the film lacked everything the 2016 movie had. Both films focus on a single event and have similar settings, with both pilots dealing with frightening situations. However, the difference between the two films is that Sully's story had depth and put the audience on the edge of their seats throughout its runtime. Meanwhile, On a Wing and a Prayer lacked a proper story and felt incomplete most of the time, despite its lengthy 102-minute run. Considering the subject matter, the film doesn't feel riveting or suspenseful.
The characters felt underdeveloped with a few different uninteresting subplots involving side characters that take place on the ground. There is hardly any moment where the audience can feel the adrenaline pumping through their veins. Moreover, the bad green screen and outdated CGI almost makes one feel like the film is unwatchable.
Additionally, the dialogs are poor, and there is a heavy focus on religion and faith. There are several moments where the film tries to play with the audience's emotions, but every attempt is a failure. Everything comes off as melodramatic, corny, and cringy.
That being said, the film will certainly find an audience. It is easy to understand, harmless, and inoffensive, giving it a feel-good factor. Dennis Quaid and Heather Graham do give good performances, but that gets shadowed by the overall mediocrity of the film.
On a Wing and a Prayer is streaming on Prime Video worldwide.
