Review of Amelia (2009) by Ike O — 21 Sep 2011
I love Hilary Swank. To pieces. Her turn in 'Million Dollar Baby' is one of my all-time favorite female performances in film. And Amelia Earhart's is a fascinating story and character. But this film is a laughable, deadly dull, atrocious and furiously embarrassing exercise in wildly miscalculated Oscar-bait.
Mira Nair - a director I admire - must shoulder the bulk of the blame, as her direction is limp-wristed and misguided, all the characters coming across as shallow, shrill caricatures that do major disservice to their real-life counterparts.
The writing is actually worse, with disbelief turning into horror and finally pained sympathy for the laughably leaden rubbish these fine actors have to regurgitate past the fistfuls of pride they've swallowed whole.
No one or nothing escapes unscathed (Gabriel Yared's score is only marginally preferable to a banshee wailing throughout the feature). This entire production is a major disservice to the legacy and tragedy of a fascinating heroine.
This review of Amelia (2009) was written by Ike O on 21 Sep 2011.
Amelia has generally received mixed reviews.
Was this review helpful?
