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Directed By
Mira Nair
Written By:
Ronald Bass, Anna Hamilton Phelan, Susan Butler, Mary Lovell
Cast:
Christopher Eccleston, Mia Wasikowska, Ewan McGregor, Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Joe Anderson, Aaron Abrams, Marina Stone, William Cuddy, Duane Murray, Jeremy Akerman, Dylan Roberts, Scott Anderson, Jeffrey Knight, Kristopher Anderson
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Amelia (2009)
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Movie Review by Jarrod
October 29th, 2009
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'Amelia' benefits from the limitless versatility of Hilary Swank; she bears an uncanny physical resemblance to the famous female aviator, and plays her with great warmth and energy. I suspect she may net herself another Oscar nomination; she has already won two Oscars, for Million Dollar Baby and Boys Don't Cry, but has also appeared in less laudable films like The Core, The Reaping, and PS I Love You.
Swank is the undisputed star of this safe and extremely straightforward biopic, which focuses on Amelia Earhart as she rises to prominence, and sets off on her ill-fated flight around the globe, in 1937. She mysteriously vanishes, along with crew member Fred Noonan (Christopher Eccleston), and even today, no one has been able to figure out what happened to them.
There has been much speculation, however. Before this, Amelia distinguishes herself as the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, and this makes her a national celebrity; on basically the same level as Charles Lindbergh. She displays an affection for flying as a girl growing up in rural Kansas, watching birds and planes in the sky, and dedicating her life to that pursuit. She never wants to be anything else.
Her dreams are made a reality through a mixture of luck, hard work, and a relationship with publishing tycoon George Putnam (Richard Gere), whom she eventually marries, and he accepts her and supports her despite her flaws, including a professionally advantageous affair with Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor), the suave director of the Bureau of Air Commerce. It means only as much as it needs to mean, and while Gene probably loves Amelia, she has no intention of getting serious with him. She is, for the most part, devoted to George. Her childhood is never discussed; the movie only focuses on the last 10 years or so of her life, but it covers all the well-known stuff, never getting bogged down in trivial details. This makes it suitable for a high school history class perhaps, but not a particularly involving cinematic experience.
There is a distinctive lack of passion, but director Mira Nair does demonstrate some technical skill, and Gabriel Yared provides some lovely cinematography, appropriately favoring a lot of nice aerial shots. Cherry Jones offers solid support as Eleanor Roosevelt, who befriends Amelia and sees her as an important role model for American women, in an era when female opportunities outside the home were limited. Gere and McGregor are both quite good, with McGregor giving a more memorable and effective performance, but the flick unquestionably belongs to Swank.
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