Review of Amelia (2009) by Dana A — 13 Apr 2010

It takes a pure genius to completely screw up the life of one of the most fascinating people in American history. Aside from the whole flying stint Amelia completely went against the rules of what women were and how they were supposed to behave.

Yet the screnwriter and director managed to create the most dullest story I have seen. Lets not leave out Hilary Swank and Richard Gere who did a smashing job at boring me to tears with their monotone monologues, dead-panned deliever and complete lack of chemistry.

What was up with Hilary Swank and her emaciated boy-like frame, horrible hair and horrendously annoying accent? I guess after winning two Oscars you really don't care about acting. The only scene which kept me awake was with Joe Anderson at the beginning who was underused and whose talent was reduced to a few lines.

This film seriously dropped the ball in so many ways, from not including hardly any historical facts, to not including anything about her marriage and life outside of flying (one scene with her cheating on her husband doesn't count) to the anti-climaxic ending.

We all know how its ends, yet that doesn't mean there shouldn't be an inclusion of emotion or life, suspense or drama. This movie was screaming Oscar and had all the right materials to win but somehow and somewhere the ball was dropped and abandoned.

Did anyone read the biographies the movie was based on? Clearly after watching this they had not which explains why everything is feels a short rough draft of an outline instead of a fully polished story with plot, characters, and personality.

The movie was just one flat note its entire painfully boring duration and clearly shows what people are willing to greenlight simply for money.