Amelia (Fox Searchlight)
Rated PG for some sensuality, language, thematic elements and smoking.
Starring Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor, Christopher Eccleston, Joe Anderson, Cherry Jones.
Written by Ronald Bass and Anna Hamilton Phelan.
Directed by Mira Nair.
GRADE: B
REVIEW:Sometimes, a movie comes out that I feel obligated to see; not because I want to or because I heard good things about it, but because it covers actual historical events and figures, and I feel like it would be irresponsible of me to miss it. Such is the case with
Amelia, the latest biography feature about Amelia Earhart, the famous female aviator.
Hillary Swank stars as Earhart, and the film begins as she makes an agreement with publisher George Putnam (Richard Gere) to become the first woman to fly across the Atlantic.
The rest of the movie covers the exploits of Earhart and her romances with Putnam and Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor) up to her final fatal attempt to circumnavigate the globe. Most of the story is told through several flashbacks as Earhart makes her historic yet infamous last flight.
In reality, Earhart disappeared with her navigator Fred Noonan somewhere over the Pacific Ocean and they both most likely drowned or died on impact from a crash. How or why they crashed remains a mystery, and any attempt to embellish or clarify what really happened has to be presumed.
As a movie,
Amelia is an honest effort to capture the adventurous spirit of Earhart and her many conquests. Swank does a fine job as the famous aviator, and Gere plays the part of Earhart's principle love interest adequately. The costumes, special effects and cinematography are all top notch as well.
Still, it's tough to watch a movie like
Amelia, since I know the outcome, and it was tough to stay interested for two hours. A lot of what I already knew about Earhart is covered, and all the stuff I want to know about her disappearance can't be told, since there were no survivors. It was a lot like a long airplane flight; a little bit of excitement at takeoff, but a lot of boring stuff in between.
Even so, you might want to see
Amelia at one point or other, just so you can feel clever for knowing the (mostly) true story of Amelia Earhart.
