The true-life story of Amelia Earhart, as told through director Mira Nair's eyes, is certainly one of struggle and persistence, and while the real story is quite compelling, condensing it into a two hour feature film missed its mark in this case. Unfortunately, the overall tone of the film is a bit melodramatic and scattered, jumping around and not really focusing on a clear path to the inevitable ending. The discipline it takes to transform fact into a dramatic version enjoyable to watch (without becoming a true documentary) is difficult I'm sure, but it has been done with more interest from the viewer's perspective before in much better films, such films as Oliver Stone's JFK.
For those who may be unfamiliar with the story of Amelia Earhart, Amelia was a pioneer in woman's aviation. She initially made headlines as being the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean. She later would be the first woman, and only the second person to Charles Lindbergh, to solo the Atlantic in an aircraft. Earhart had set many records in her lifetime, but none as monumental as the record she attempted by being the first person to circumnavigate the globe by way of an airplane... an extremely difficult and dangerous mission which proved to be her last.
Hillary Swank certainly put in a lot of effort in an attempt to get into character and fully involve herself in the role of Amelia Earhart, and I commend her for that. (Check out the Special Features for an inside look on her transformation.) I'm sure playing that of a real-life, not to mention extremely well-known person is not an easy task, and for the most part, she nailed the physical appearance and mannerisms of Amelia Earhart. However, I have to say that the inflections of Swank's voice were just a tad over the top. Unfortunately, both times that I've seen Amelia (once in the theater; once on Blu-ray), I left the movie feeling like Amelia Earhart was slow - as in mentally challenged - which I'm sure was far from the case being that she was obviously intelligent enough to pilot her way to many aviation records. It should be said that Swank's narration portions of the film actually sounded good, and that it was the actual in-movie dialogue that bothered me enough to distract from the enjoyment of the film. This leads me to believe that partial responsibility lies on the screenplay and direction, because the film's Earhart tends to speak in very short, one-word sentences all too often. After watching the Movietone News Reels (see the Special Features), it can be seen how Swank is very close to defining the role of Earhart, but there is certainly a level of subtlety that went awry.
Also starring in Amelia is Richard Gere (The Hoax, Pretty Woman) as George Putnam, Amelia's eventual love interest turned husband, as well as the public relations partner who consistently keeps Earhart's image in the media. Gere has a great performance as Putnam, helping to show that he has a loving and adoring side, yet also keeps business at the forefront of his image. The relationship that develops between Earhart and Putnam comes after she finds out that Putnam is divorcing his wife. However, there is an understanding between the two that Earhart is a free spirit, and neither the miles of air between them nor the fact that she had an affair with Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor - Angels & Demons, Star Wars: Episodes I, II, and III) would stand between their love and adoration for each other, even on the night of her disappearance.
Most people already know the story of Amelia Earhart's triumphs in the sky and that she was the first woman to do many things involving air travel. Amelia is certainly a tribute to a person whose untimely death was driven by her one and only passion in life. For the most part, the film does a good enough job of combining documentary-style facts and recreations of actual scenes and footage with the drama of a feature film by today's standards. While each individual scene is relatively enjoyable to watch, where the film fails is that it seems to slap scene after scene together without a true sense of flow or purpose. However, for those who may not know the story of Amelia Earhart, the film is probably a pretty good starting place to get a quick rundown of some of the important moments of her life in a short amount of time.
Supplementing the film Amelia are a decent number of Special Features consisting of some typical and others interesting. The Blu-ray's typical features include Deleted Scenes and Behind-the-Scenes footage (both of which help give a bit more insight into the making of Amelia). The on-the-set stories and information about both Hillary Swank's portrayal of Earhart and director Mira Nair's vision were quite interesting, especially considering that the movie didn't do a very good job in terms of the grand storyline. However, my favorite Special Feature was undoubtedly the Movietone News Reels. While some of the clips were short and/or had no narration, seeing and, in some cases, hearing about the real Amelia Earhart helps solidify not only the film's purpose, but also helps explain why certain scenes were inserted into the film. The Blu-ray version of the film also includes a second DVD-format disc that can be inserted into your computer where you'll be able to transfer the film to the PC/Mac or another portable device like an iPod. While this is becoming almost standard today, it is the first time I've taken advantage and seen just how good the video and audio is with this portable media format.
Amelia is not only a historical film with modern-day drama, but it can also be considered an inspirational film for anyone, especially woman who face the struggles of a male-dominated society. While the film is generally enjoyable and worthy of viewing when strictly looking at it as a way to once again hear the story of Amelia Earhart, it is hard to fully recommend the film as a purchase or rental unless you are a history buff or have a particular interest in the famous aviator. The lack of continuous flow and worthy direction in the film hinders Amelia greatly. With that said, Amelia is absolutely worth a rent for parents who want a quick, family-friendly way to introduce the aviator to children who may not know the stature of "Lady Lindy" or who may have only briefly read about her in school. Either way, just don't expect to walk away from viewing Amelia with a sense of awe, but instead more of a sense of understanding.
