I wanted to watch this movie because of its biographical nature. I thought it would have been great, stellar, and an amazing movie. I should have watched this movie days ago but somehow I just got around to it.
Amelia Earhart born on July 4, 1897 was declared legally dead on January 5, 1939. She was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean and was a noted American aviation pioneer and author. All of what she accomplished was in the era of pre-feminism, the turn of the century. In the movie, she failed at one attempt to lift the plane off the runway because of some mechanical problems and the men who saw what happened laughed her to scorn with all the media coverage.
Half way in the movie I was disappointed. I did not know the movie would have turned out the way it did. There was no build up. The movie reminded me of Jamaican journalists who put together News Year in Review and begin in September. The movie hinted at her childhood and I will tell you what happened. All you see is Amelia in a field (country) looking up at an airplane in the sky and says “I will fly one day”. She went from that to being the commander and flying aircrafts across the world.
I am no movie critic but I would have loved to see Amelia’s training, a look at her childhood, or take it from where she graduated. The movie started with her flying all over the place and the recognition she received early on.
In the beginning George Putnam (Richard Gere) who plays her promoter and husband did a creditable job at his role. This is the second movie I am watching in recent times with Richard Gere and he is a fantastic actor. Read my Hachiko: A Dog’s Story post to view that review. Back to the movie – In the beginning, in the twinkling of an eye George Putname (Richard Gere) plants a huge kiss on Amelia Earhart (Hilary Swank). Again, no build up, no flirting, nothing to show he was interested but they got hitched and later got married.
Amelia Earhart in the movie continues to fly all over the place, breaking records and embarking on new frontiers. There is a total difference in the first half of the movie when compared to the second. I wished the first half was as fun and exciting as the second. The first half was not slow but everything just happened and that took away from the movie.
The challenges she faces as a woman is inspirational I would imagine for the female audience who would see this movie. All in all it is an inspiring movie. She grew up at a time when women were not allowed to do certain things. For her to be flying an airplane was new. I read her Biography online and her childhood was not poor. Her parents were established citizens in Kansas. Her dad was a judge and a banker. Of course she would have some ambition in life, seeing that everyone around her did well.
The cinematography in the movie was good. The shots of her flying the aircraft – those experiences were great to see. I loved the casting for the movie. Hilary Swank looks just like Amelia Earhart, although that was expected, the resemblance was close. Did she get into the character? That’s another case.
With the publicity of Amelia Earhart, there must have been challenges. Of course men were attracted to her, but more than that it caused a strain on her relationship at one point. Her husband, very protective of her became insecure when a friend Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor) started to show interest. Amelia’s husband found a love letter she received from him. It could have ruined their relationship but it didn’t.
Amelia Earhart is portrayed as tom boyish in the movie. While this does not suggest she was a lesbian, her frequent comments about the beauty of the women she encountered leave this question wide open. Her androgyny fits in perfectly with her image as a woman like no other. It is not surprising that Hilary Swank, an actress celebrated for her androgynous beauty and her award winning role in Boys Don’t Cry (the story of transsexual Tina Brandon aka. Brandon Tina), was cast as Amelia Earhart.
What the movie explores also is her success and her final flight where she went missing in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
I particularly liked the way the movie ended. It brought closure in some way mainly from the husband’s perspective.
Would I recommend it? Watch it if you want to see a diluted biography.
Thanks for the review. I have long been a fan of Gere, and loved Swank in Million Dollar Baby. Shame the movie was not better done. Have not seen it, and have no immediate plans to do so.
Hail Corve! I thought it was overdue time I called by as our paths have crossed elsewhere.
You highlight a real problem of histo/biography films, namely what to put in and what to leave out. Condensing four decades of her life into 111 minutes (I checked) will, inevitably, need a great deal of selection. But, the whole film does introduce a very individual woman to the general public, most of whom will never have previously heard of her. Hopefully, if stimulated they will go away and read up to gain more knowledge about her.
Anyway, I will try to call by more frequently. Best to you.
I am a big fan of history, and enjoy biographies. I haven’t seen this movie, but I’ve read a lot about her and saw a number of documentaries. There will always be the mystery of what happened.
Well////I saw this one yesterday. I did not rent it because I thought it would be too boring. I guess I was wrong! I appreciate your review. I will try it tonight…:)
Let me know what you think about it. Sounds great!
Of course, I will see this. I’ve know about Amelia Earhart my entire life. I was blessed to fly in small planes from my childhood – my mother worked for a physician in Georgia who had his own Beechcraft Bonanaza and, from the time I was 8, he would take my brother and me when he would fly to see his mother in the north GA mountains. When I married my oldest son’s father, who was in the Air Force in the Boston area and in the base aeroclub, we would fly all over the Northeast, and even flew ourselves to New Orleans to have Shawn baptized. Amelia Earhart was a heroine to emulate.
I love Hilary Swank and she seems an excellent choice to play Amelia. I’m sorry to hear there wasn’t more of her early life to give a basis to the story.
Thanks for the excellent review.
It appears to be a very interesting movie, she was a great woman, let me know if u do watch it and what it was like 🙂
I did watch it. Its ok.
I’ve always been intrigued by the Earhart mystery. Gere and Swank are two of my favorites, too. I’m guessing I’d enjoy this movie, whatever its shortcomings might be.
You will enjoy it.
Thanks for the feedback.
I admire Earhart’s but I don’t know about seeing the film, the mystery of her disappearance is, I think, will always remind a mystery. it seems to me the film don’t offer anything new but I guess that’s not the point of the movie. I do like that it promotes Earhart and her accomplishments and more people will know of her
thanks for your visit to my blog
You are right the movie does not offer anything new, it is a good watch though for what her story is.
Thanks
I will probably rent this movie. It looks pretty good.
Cool!
Thank you for the review Corve, I was curious about this movie since Amelia was one of my childhood heroes and I’m disappointed to hear that they didn’t show more of Amelia’s training and true background…I do hope, however, that someone will do a film on the first African-American female aviator Bessie Coleman. Although she too suffered a tragic death (in which ironically she was the passenger in the plane and not the pilot), her plight was far more difficult than Amelia’s due to the prejudice in the U.S. at that time which forced her to repeatedly travel overseas for her training. I think her story of overcoming racial and sexual discrimination and surviving a bad crash with serious injuries only to summon the courage to recover and keep piloting and stunt flying all the way until her death would be a wonderful film/biography to see.
I will rent it when it comes out in DVDs (or Bluerays or whatever).
I like biographies of the era. They certainly out do our generation, I believe.
Whose film is this?
I think you did a fine job reviewing the movie Corve. I have read a couple of books about Amelia Earhart and am interested in seeing the movie. Cheers.
With a few rare exceptions Hollywood rarely does history justice. The History Channel is usually where I turn when I can’t find a book on the subject (or have read them all..lol.) I had higher hopes for this movie since I love Swank and Gere, but oh well.
So glad you changed your theme! I can’t tell you how many times I couldn’t get a comment to go through on the old one and eventually gave up. I’ll be by a lot more often now.
That was an interesting post. I am so glad I read it and will now look out for the movie.
I haven’t seen the latest version of the Amelia Earhart story but I wonder if you feel the same way about Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator, the life story of Howard Hughes. That too not only shows very little of his childhood, but much of his later life is missing as well. However it all works because the director was telling a story that he wanted to tell and not teaching a history lesson that some in the audience may have needed to learn. Could this have been what the director of Amelia had also intended to do?
All in all, movies are about being entertained and if they can do that even by leaving certain facts out or bringing in imaginary happenstances then I’m fine with that as long as I’m not bored.
yeah, i felt it was ok. not the best but it kept me going…
I have wanted to see this movie also. Thanks for sharing this. Also thanks for stopping by my blog today… Have a great day..
That’s too bad. Too bad the movie didn’t live up to its potential.
Hi ! Thanks for dropping it at my blog. It’s great to meet you ! Thanks for reviewing this film too…what a shame it was not produced more successfully because it is such a great story.
Colleen
I would love to see that myself. Thanks for the review. I hate it when movies are all over the place. I love to have a solid plot so I can understand what is going on.
Hey Corve, hope u are well, yes sorry I misread your post, however not the second one, saw a clip of this on tv, looks interesting..thanks for the heads up… have a great day..
A movie I’ll probably skip for the very reasons you post. She was a pioneer in every sense of the word, and long live her memory. Over forty years ago I was introduced to a man who was a member of the early-birds club, which means he flew solo before 1911. He knew Amelia, and had nothing but great words for her. Truly a woman above gender.
Hey, thanks for following my blog! Thought I’d leave you a comment for doing so ; ).
xxAmy
I almost picked this book up in the library today but decided I already had an arm full! I hope I’ll remember next time.
Then I’ll see the movie.
Good review and great blog.
I was bored by this one. There was very little tension in the story line.
I wasn’t bored by it.
Thanks for the compliment.
I felt this movie lacked tension. Quite a shame considering the run up to and the flight were quite extraordinary events back in the day.
Great blog!
Unfortunately, seems like a so-so movie. You might enjoy reading this Amelia Earhart biography.
15 DEC 2010:
New YouTube video indicates new approach.