Title: Amelia
Cast: Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor
Director: Mira Nair
Rating: U/A
Critic's rating: * * ½
Mira Nair’s first attempt at a biopic is relatively charming as it focuses on the extraordinary life and pioneering adventures of Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly across the Atlantic.
Amelia (Swank) was thrust into the role of America’s sweetheart, her pursuit of flying requiring the encashable extra media hype, enough to sponsor her passionate pursuit.
Nair’s narrative follows the adventure and celebrity and even faithfully recreates the final moments of her last flight ending in a long and enduring mystery, but the drama is sorely missing.
Nair’s narrative is more interestedin her romance with George Putnam (Gere) than in explaining how a Kansas tomboy turned Boston social worker took to the skies and the remarkableinspiration she managed to be for thousands of women who were encouraged to chart their own courses.
Written by Ron Bass and Anna Hamilton Phelan, based on the books East To The Dawn by Susan Butler and The Sound Of Wings by Mary S Lovell, the film fails to live up to the character it hopes to deify.
The cinematography by Stuart Dryburgh is quite elegantly prosaic, unlike the flaccid narrative and un-livening performances!
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