Amelia fails to take flight

By Jackie Ammons     10/29/09 7:00pm

Amelia Earhart was known for flying high. Unfortunately the new biopic,Amelia,doesn't quite reach the same heights as its real-life counterpart. Hilary Swank (Birds of America), who portrays Earhart, may bear a striking resemblance to the pilot; this fails, however, to make up for the stilted dialogue and characters, though they are based on real historical figures. The outcome, alas, is a flat movie that fails to live up to its potential. The film opens with Earhart beginning to capture the heart of the American people, displaying her daring escapades and achieving numerous firsts for women. Pushed by her manager-turned-husband George Putnam (Nights in Rodanthe's Richard Gere), Earhart begins as a phony who only wishes to garner publicity - and a boatload of money - for her famous flight across the Atlantic when, in actuality, she was only a simple passenger.

Soon, however, Earhart begins to take serious interest in her work, and flies solo across the Atlantic, the Pacific and numerous other long flights, with the encouragement of her business partner (and occasional lover) Gene Vidal (Angels & Demons' Ewan McGregor) and her navigator, Fred Noonan (G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra's Christopher Eccleston). The movie inevitably culminates, just as it should, with Earhart's doomed round-the-world flight, a trip from which little has been found and even less is certain.

The foundational flaw in Amelia is its contrived, choppy dialogue. Marked with unending emotional and philosophical statements, the script's language is all too formal for a girl reared in Middle America. Earhart and Putnam deliver beautiful speeches of love and ambition to each other, but these statements seem too polished to be believable, too perfect to be natural. It's as though the screenwriter pulled quotes from Earhart's speeches and inserted them into her everyday dialogue. As a result, it's difficult to invest anything beyond superficial interest in Amelia's characters.

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Compounding this problem of believability, Swank takes on an odd accent for her character. In line with Earhart's Kansas roots, Swank often uses a southern, or rural, accent. However, at other times - usually when delivering an inspirational line - Swank sports a hint of a sophisticated British accent.

The other roles next to Earhart are disappointing. Putnam develops far too quickly from a money-hungry egomaniac to a caring husband, and the film'sportrayal of Vidal is a mere one-dimensional dip into a significant, continuous member of Earhart's life. Wasting Gere and McGregor with these two static characters was a mistake.

Nevertheless, Amelia has its positive qualities. As previously mentioned, Swank looks strikingly like Earhart, with the cropped haircut and masculine swagger. Additionally, the movie'sinsights into Earhart's personal history are interesting and surprising. For example, according to the film, she wore pants not because she wanted "to be one of the boys" but because she was ashamed of her legs.

While these historical tidbits are interesting, the film is not entirely truthful in its disclosure. Historically, whether Earhart actually had an affair with Vidal is up in the air, and, even so, the film fails to show that both Putnam and Vidal were married when they met Earhart. Additionally, gearheads will undoubtedly notice that some of the planes depicted in the film are not always those Earhart flew in real life.

And while audiences may cringe at the thought of going to a film that will inevitably and tragically end with Earhart's death at sea, rest assured;Amelia spares audiences of any overly emotional ending or violent dive into the ocean. The camera simply cuts from thrashing ocean waves to Putnam sitting forlornly by the two-way radio, knowing that Amelia is gone.

Ultimately, it's a shame that the rich and vivid history of one of America's icons does not translate effectively into film form. The movie's few commendable qualities are overshadowed by the flat dialogue and uninspired performances of the cast. If you end up seeing this film, quit tugging at the arm rest. It's a cup holder, not an ejection seat release.

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