Amelia

Amelia (2009)
Directed by Mira Nair
Starring Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewen McGregor, Christopher Eccleston

This film did not fair well at the box-office or on home video and I wasn't sure if I would enjoy it, but I was surprised. This bio-pic starts off a little bumpy, suffering mostly from structural problems with a lot of jumping back and forth in time - but by 30mins in the film is on track and focusing on Earhart's around the world attempt.

Swank is spot-on as Amelia, she looks, talks and moves just like her, as seen in archive footage; its a remarkable transformation. She hams it a little but its the 30's and she's playing a strong independent siren. Gere plays Puttnam her publisher husband and biggest supporter, his loyalty and faith in Amelia are at the core of this tender love story. The ending I wont give away (unless you know your history) but it really moved me, I had no idea of her fate. The end to me almost made the film, it was bitter sweet, just like Earhart.

McGregor plays the love affair interest, a single-parent/aeronautics-genius who helps Amelia gain recognition. She is a person who cant be tied down. Their love affair is short lived and eventually she returns to her husband. This film is a love-story at heart, and we get all the facts of her aeronautical success neatly wrapped in. The films focus is not on the love triangle, the anchor of the story is the undying support of Gere for this remarkable free-spirited woman.

The effects are not so great but not bad enough to take you out of the story. There's not much action in general but the flight sequences are good and capture the risk, the old planes were very dangerous, communication was bad, no satellites, only morse and radio. One cant even imagine doing what Amelia did 8o years ago. The film brings the danger and her heroism to light. The performances hold together a fairly undramatic story. The era is captured well in the visuals, the wardrobe and make-up felt and looked right. The music was also a good fit. Ok some movies aren't for everyone and usually I agree with the mass, but in this case I enjoyed a film most people told me was crap. Rent the DVD to polish up on your history..