My preconceived notions about John John in the Sky were completely out of whack. Upon first reading the title I immediately thought it would be a film about the death of John F. Kennedy Jr.

There really are not that many people referred to as John John and the death of the only son of John F. Kennedy in a plane crash last year certainly seems the stuff of which films are made -- such was my reasoning. My reasoning was wrong.

But, the actual premise of the film did seem to have promise -- It is the summer of 1968 and John John and his "special'' friend Zeola want to build a plane to fly John John's mother away from her small town Mississippi life.

John John's mother has reason to fantasise about an escape in the Age of Aquarius. She is trapped in miserable marriage with a miserable and abusive man (played by country music singer Randy Travis).

She stages small rebellions -- buying LPs, driving around against her husband's wishes in her Volkswagen Beetle and dressing up like a hippy with her companion/maid to try and challenge the racism of Mississippi farm country in the late 1960s.

The two women approach a diner and stare down the porch bound establishment as they contemplate the wisdom of challenging the abhorrent segregation -- then they retreat and go for ice cream instead.

Which is fair enough -- there probably were many more people in the American South of that time period of a sympathetic but less than brave nature than there were freedom fighters.

But sadly, these two women are probably the most well developed characters -- and they are not the central ones.

The young John John and Zeola are the main focus and their interactions remind one of a particularly melodramatic, bad episode of The Waltons.

Quirky minor characters -- the two elderly black sisters who argue constantly and care for Zeola, the NASA rocket designer come country hermit -- are rich but desperately underused.

The characters which monopolise the bulk of the screen time, in contrast, are wooden stereotypes.

Randy Travis' abusive father is all evil until the end of the film which leaves the audience with a complete lack of understanding over from whence sprung the source of his salvation.

The film moves slowly from beginning to end. Although the early scenes are modern rather than reflections -- with the grown John John struggling through his relationship with his own son -- and the final scenes are as well, the story still feels disjointed.

The film may be slightly more attention grabbing on a cinema screen than it was on a television, but the bottom line is that the story was far less compelling than that of any of the films I wholeheartedly enjoyed during last year's festival.

That being said, the film may appeal to those who enjoy melodramas of the Hallmark Hall of Fame genre.

John John in the Sky is showing at the Liberty Theatre at 8.30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Country and western music star Randy Travis chat while filming "John John in the Sky.'' REVIEW REV BIFF MOVIES MPC