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These people, presumably, had unique and interesting motivations for throwing themselves into a foreign war, but the things some of them are running from (creditors, the law, racism, daddy issues) are trotted out seemingly at random, when director Tony Bill has some downtime and needs a reason for his characters to bond.

Aside from Rawlings, who must be the only man in 1916 with highlights in his hair, none of the other pilots stand out, and when they get off the ground and start engaging with the Germans, it's hard to care who lives or dies since you can't even tell them apart. There's not much of a plot, just a collection of war-movie clichés stretching from Audie Murphy through Saving Private Ryan, with a generous helping of Top Gun, right down to Rawlings' dark, brooding rival/mentor (Martin Henderson).

Franco gives essentially the same performance he gave earlier this year in Annapolis, playing a rebellious, cocky guy from the wrong side of the tracks who dreams of being a hero. Great French actor Jean Reno is wasted as the squadron's commander, and Rawlings' compatriots are all played by bland, unmemorable pretty boys. For a while, Flyboys is inoffensive and marginally tolerable, but as its repetitive (although occasionally impressive) dogfights and rote, lifeless drama drag on past two hours, it becomes unbearably tedious and mildly insulting to the undoubtedly much messier and more interesting true story by which it is allegedly "inspired."