Fly Away is a 2011 American drama film written and directed by Janet Grillo, and starring Beth Broderick, Ashley Rickards, Greg Germann, JR Bourne, and Reno.

[9] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 66 out of 100, based on eight critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

[10] The Los Angeles Times wrote, "The lovely, heartbreaking Fly Away benefits from superb performances and a gripping story managed with simplicity and grace by writer-producer-director Janet Grillo.

"[11] The New York Times wrote: "A defiantly unsentimental look at the complex codependency between a harried single mother and her severely autistic daughter.

"[12] Rex Reed of The New York Observer wrote about Rickards' performance: "In a class by herself, she deserves, at the very least, an Oscar nomination.

Not since Patty Duke in The Miracle Worker has any actor portrayed a disabled child (especially one with autism) with the same depth of passion and realism.

She is overwhelmed by her circumstances, but is determined to persevere...In stark counterpoint to Jeanne is Mandy, the autistic daughter who is not like most of us.

Mandy is played by Ashley Rickards, a young lady who should win an Academy Award for best supporting actress.

"[5] Conversely, Diego Costa of Slant Magazine wrote that the film suffers "from a generic sterility we've come to associate with made-for-TV movies.

The screaming fits get repetitive, the mother's commitment reiterated ad nauseam, the meek, nice neighbor who wants to help is turned down, and yet the sensitivity of its subject is treated from a distance", while Elizabeth Weitzman of the New York Daily News commented that "Rickards tries hard in a difficult role and Greg Germann offers nice support as an empathetic neighbor.