Review of Amelia (2009) by Manny C — 21 Oct 2010

I just don't know what to say. The visuals of Hilary Swank as aviator icon Amelia Earhart look great, as does Swank as the 20th century American icon, who disappeared during a flight around the world in 1937. As soon as the dialog starts though, look out. There's not a tired cliche that screenwriters Ron Bass and Anna Hamilton Phelan don't like. It's just awful. Swank, a two-time Oscar-winning actress, is done a huge disservice, and I for one can't believe this came from the directorial powers of the usually reliable Mira Nair. So I'll blame the screenwriters and the producers, who probably had this watered down into a bio-pic mess.

I mean seriously could Amelia Earhart's life have been this dull. She has brushes with her husband, George Putnam (Richard Gere) but there's no spark, and run-ins with Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor), father of Gore Vidal, who could have injected this script with some much-needed life, fails to ignite anything interesting. Only Christopher Eccleston as Earhart's navigator brings some life to the proceedings but his role is much too small to leave much impact. Swank, meanwhile, just smiles (a lot) and recites agonizingly Hallmark-y voice overs. Amelia Earhart deserved better than this.