Genre: Drama/Biopic
Director: Mira Nair
Cast: Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor, Virginia Madsen, Christopher Eccleston, Mia Wasikowska, Joe Anderson, Cherry Jones
RunTime: 1 hr 51 mins
Rating: PG
Official Website: http://www.fox.com.sg/

Opening Day: 12 November 2009

Synopsis:

Visionary.  Lover.  Dreamer.  Fighter.  Legend.  Icon.  AMELIA. 

An extraordinary life of adventure, celebrity and continuing mystery comes to light in AMELIA, a vast, thrilling account of legendary aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart (two time Academy Award® winner Hilary Swank).

After becoming the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, Amelia was thrust into a new role as America's sweetheart - the legendary "goddess of light," known for her bold, larger-than-life charisma. Yet, even with her global fame solidified, her belief in flirting with danger and standing up as her own, outspoken woman never changed.  She was an inspiration to people everywhere, from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt (Cherry Jones) to the men closest to her heart: her husband, promoter and publishing magnate George P. Putnam (Golden Globe® winner Richard Gere), and her long time friend and lover, pilot Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor).  In the summer of 1937, Amelia set off on her most daunting mission yet: a solo flight around the world that she and George both anxiously foresaw as destined, whatever the outcome, to become one of the most talked-about journeys in history. 

Movie Review:

I suppose a lot of folks out there would be familiar with Amelia Earhart thanks to Amy Adam's cute-as-a-button portrayal of the character in Night at the Museum 2, where she becomes the object of attention to Ben Stiller's Larry the night guard. But of course that's fantasy fiction, and this film, directed by Mira Nair, is a biopic on that famed female pilot who became the first woman to fly solo non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean, and one who attempted to circumnavigate the globe.

There are biopics which go beneath the surface to examine the motivations, dreams and hopes of someone who had made good and become legendary in their own right, and then there are those which failed to do so, presenting scenes which just narrates very superficially across a time line, taking the easy way out in telling the life story of a famous person. Amelia unfortunately fell into the latter category, which is somewhat disappointing since we are fully aware of what Mira Nair can do with her characters.

Void of any strong emotions, the film chose to focus on the love triangle that Amelia (Hilary Swank) got herself into, torn between book publisher George Putnam (Richard Gere) and Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor) with whom she has an affair with while married to the former. It lingered far too long on the unconventional marriage governed by the terms and conditions set in that partnership, which turned George into somewhat of a clingy puppy dog with a hint of regret his moment of folly. But of course it decided to go all wholesome in preparation for its build up to what would be signature of the mystique that Amelia Earhart brings to the table.

There is so much potential here in the film that just flew by. In what was probably a male-centric hobby/sport/occupation, Amelia shattered that glass ceiling that a woman can fly just as good as a man can, and through her record breaking stunts, set out to prove just that. From the larger perspective, she's one of the role models who sought to break misconceptions that a woman is of the inferior sex, but what came through in the film, was nothing more than a listing of achievements and a quick retelling of her accomplishments, and little episodes of her life such as her forced endorsements just turned out to be nothing more than fillers for the narrative, rather than providing that avenue to delve deeper into Amelia as a person.

The outcome of the film thus became a relatively flat telling of Amelia Earhart's life story about the time after she was just a passenger piggybacking a flight across the Atlantic right up to, well, give credit when it's due, a gripping finale that would keep you on the edge of your seat, unless of course you've learnt your history well. Told in a series of flashbacks, the film did recreate some wonderful aeronautical moments in the life of Amelia, and aviation nuts would find some joy with the production sets and (now) antiqued planes that graced the screen, as well as the recreation of some of the renowned plane that Amelia flew in her career.

Other than that, it isn't too memorable, with few redeeming qualities of what felt like a film with piece meal, disparate scenes welded together, with some hopes that it would take off and be able to weather an audience's expectations of a solid biopic on Amelia Earhart.

Movie Rating:



(Amelia splutters and fails to soar to its potential)

Review by Stefan Shih