THE THEORY OF FLIGHT (1998)

Richard (Kenneth Branagh) is a depressed, socially inept, sexually frightened artist with a death wish: He builds outlandish flying machines and tries (or threatens) to fly them. Jane (Helena Bonham Carter) is a sex-starved virgin who's really dying, from ALS -- Lou Gehrig's disease -- which keeps her twisted in a wheelchair and is rapidly destroying her ability to speak. The odd couple -- a Harold and Maude for the '90s -- connects in this gimmicky actors' holiday, directed by Paul Greengrass and written by Richard Hawkins. But we never know why: She's foulmouthed and sardonic, he's a wimpy pill, and their madcap flight plan of love (he attempts to rob a bank for money to buy her a gigolo) never achieves emotional liftoff. Wait, maybe we can see why: Branagh and Bonham Carter are a real-life, classics-loving couple who, looking for a change-of-pace project, grabbed the opportunity to play defiantly against type -- bodices and tights be damned. Mission accomplished, with limited visibility.

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