Review of Amelia (2009) by Erin K — 16 Aug 2011

It is 1937. Amelia Earhart(Hilary Swank) is saying goodbye to her husband George Putnam(Richard Gere) before embarking on a historic round the world flight with her navigator Fred Noonan(Christopher Eccleston).

It is 1928. Amelia Earhart is meeting George Putnam, a publisher, wanting to be the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. Fine, he says, but it will be as a passenger.(At least, it's not as a stewardess.) In any case, she is instrumental in the flight's success which she parlays into fame, eventually meeting Gene Vidal(Ewan McGregor).

There is a certain irony in Charles Lindbergh at first overshadowing Amelia Earhart in her early flying career, as "The Spirit of Saint Louis" overshadows "Amelia" with its similar structure.(If one were of a cynical nature, one could point out that Lindbergh knew when to quit.) Admittedly, "Amelia" is a very good looking movie(as are most of Mira Nair's films) and has perfectly cast Hilary Swank in the lead while Cherry Jones as Eleanor Roosevelt is inspired casting of the highest order. Even with that, the movie is less than gripping, grounding Earhart and not in a good way. Yes, "The Spirit of Saint Louis" was pure mythology but it proved that we do need our heroes. So, what happens with "Amelia" is that it deconstructs the wrong person without anything interesting being said. At least, it does not speculate any more than necessary(which Gore Vidal, here invoked, has elsewhere), inferring that air navigation of the time was not an exact science(On the first transatlantic flight, she asks if it is Ireland on their arrival. No, Wales, responds a resident. Whoops.). Even then, the movie goes on a little too long.