Movie review: 'Amelia'

Thursday October 22, 2009 6:03 PM By Mina Hochberg

Amelia
2 stars
Directed by Mira Nair
Starring Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor

Directed by Mira Nair, “Amelia” tracks the life of Amelia Earhart from one headline-making accomplishment to the next. With a smile and a swagger, Hilary Swank plays the celebrity aviator as she enamors the nation with her record-breaking missions across this body of water and that distance of Earth. She also enamors the heart of book publisher George Putnam (Richard Gere), who’s instrumental in helping her fund her pricey adventures.

Nair tries to present her characters fairly, but in doing so she creates a film that’s oddly neutered of emotion: Everyone is so darn equanimous. Conversations wax lyrical, with lines of artificial dialogue that seem to have been plucked straight from a love letter or diary. The otherwise excellent cast is further hobbled by the film’s fidelity to chronology at the expense of character depth. Countless moments are devoted to proving how much Earhart cherished her freedom, but little else is revealed about her inner life. Instead, the film ploddingly charts milestones with the diligent flair of a Wikipedia entry.

Where the film does soar is in the sky. The aerial scenes are gorgeous, showing you, in a wordless instant, why Earhart loved being in the cockpit. Also striking is Swank’s resemblance to Earhart, which is possibly what enabled her to fill the role with such effortless charm, even if she does sound distractingly like Katharine Hepburn at times.

“Amelia” conveys nothing but good intentions. Unfortunately, though, it succumbs to the challenge of revitalizing a story that’s become the stuff of legend.