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Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor, Christopher Eccleston, Joe Anderson ... see more see more... , Cherry Jones , Mia Wasikowska , Aaron Abrams , Matthew Dylan Roberts , Scott Yaphe , Tom Fairfoot , Ryann Shane , William Cuddy , Elizabeth Shepherd , Richard Donat , Scott G. Anderson , Keelin Jack , Sarah Kitz , Jeremy Akerman , Derek Keurvorst , Thomas Hauff , Sarah Dood , Danielle Bourgon , Hamish McEwan , Michael Daly , Jeffrey Knight , Paul Johnston , Michael Richard , Daniel Janks , Ron Smerczac , Kerin McCue , Richard Lothian , Divine Brown , Elizabeth Saunders , Precious Chong , Kathryn Haggis , Duane Murray , Joe Renzi , Geoff Gillespie

Hilary Swank and Richard Gere star in director Mira Nair's biopic tracing the life of famed aviator Amelia Earhart -- who made history in 1932 by becoming the first woman ever to fly solo across the A... read more read more...tlantic Ocean. The trip made the aviatrix a national celebrity -- with help from her publicist George Putnam (Gere), whom she fell in love with and eventually married. Their union was tested, however, as Earhart developed feelings for contemporary Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor ), and the couple's marriage faced the ultimate tragedy years later, as Earhart's fierce independent spirit spurred her to attempt to fly around the world -- a venture that infamously shrouded her in mystery, as the pilot simply vanished after crashing into the Pacific Ocean. Christopher Eccleston and co-star in the Avalon Pictures production. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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34% liked it

98,416 ratings

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21% liked it

153 critics

PG, 2 hr.

Directed by: Mira Nair

Release Date: October 23, 2009

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DVD Release Date: February 2, 2010

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Flixster Reviews (2,648)

  • YLOWBSTARDreturns
    May 26, 2011
    YLOWBSTARDreturns
    A boring and utterly pedestrian chunk of Oscar bait, "Amelia" is the film equivalent of reading a wikipedia page; you get the gist of the story but it's not particularly memorable and just doesn't do it's subject justice. Lazy writing and generic direction (Mira Nair - "Monsoon W... read moreedding") plague the film, as does the shockingly poor lead performance from the incredibly inconsistent Swank. At two hours, the film started to drag and take it's toll on me, adding to an already unpleasant home video experience. Skip this film and just turn to Scorsese's 2004 near masterpiece to get your aviation fix and to see just what a Biopic can be!
  • deano
    April 15, 2011
    deano
    Hilary Swank delivers a good performance as the legendary American aviatrix, Amelia Earhart, who boldly flew into the annals of history.
    The film is not just about one person, but about a person's dreams, desires and ambition. Ameila lectured and spoke out for women's rights, adv... read moreocated for them to follow their dreams of either became a pilot like her, or just living their life the way they wanted to.
    The airplanes and the overall look of the 1930s are wonderful in here, often capturing my attention more than the dialog.
  • cosmo313
    October 28, 2010
    cosmo313
    This is a prestige picture that is really aiming for Oscars and all kinds of critical acclaim, but sadly, it falls way short of the mark. The subject is interesting, but this is a standard biopic that isn't really remarkable. Everything is just rather average here. Well, the acti... read moreng stands out, it's better tha navwerage, but even that is underwhelming.

    Swank does nail the voice, likeness, and mannerisms of Earhart, but the film just feels kind of hollow and pointless. That's a shame too, especially since the subject is so interesting and intriguing. The other cast members are good, but this is really Swank's show. Too bad it falters.

    There are some good moments, but this film just kind of drags and is really pretty boring. The camera work is good though. That's another positive thing it has going for it. I blame the writing though. The script could have been far better. It's undercooked and just reeks of "typical", I haven't seen any of Mira Nair's other films, but I do know a little about her. That said, maybe she wasn't the right choice. I'm not sure who else I'd pic though, but it would probably be someone with more clout and experience.

    Like I said, the acting and camera work are good, and there a few nice scenes, but other than that, this is a big disappointent that I just can't recommend.
  • LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    August 22, 2010
    LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    "Who wants a life imprisoned in safety?"

    A look at the life of legendary American pilot Amelia Earhart, who disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 in an attempt to make a flight around the world.

    REVI
    ... read moreEW
    Given the source material and the fact that Mira Nair has occupied the director's seat, I had been expecting great things from this movie. Sadly, 'Amelia' doesn't live up to being close to those expectations. Nair captures the era very well, through the costumes, set design and music. The visuals, especially the sceneries are stunning. However, the story at times feels contrived and at times more like a documented account of Earhart's life rather than a movie. The pacing is quite slow. However, unlike many others, I didn't find it this one to be a snoozefest but that may be because of my previous knowledge of Amelia Earhart and because of a particular performance which I'll come back to a little later on. It's quite disappointing that Nair didn't demonstrate much back story on Amelia, like how did she make it this far in what was then considered a man's world and how she developed her passion for flying. Despite its flaws, the last fifteen to twenty minutes were well-executed. Here, Nair very subtly builds tension and while the viewer knows what it going to happen, they are in suspense as they anticipate Amelia and her passenger's fate. Richard Gere is quite adequate as Putnam. Ewan McGregor is marginally better. But, it is Hilary Swank who steals the show. She is the force that drives this movie with a nuanced performance. I wonder why she didn't receive much recognition for this portrayal. Needless to say, Swank owns the movie.
  • sanjurosamurai
    August 18, 2010
    sanjurosamurai
    entertaining and full of great landscapes, the the film fails almost everywhere else. the telling of amelia's life was stale and formulaic, handing us the standard information about amelia's life without digging deeper than what you might find on her wikipedia page. the film ju... read morest flows from one event to the next, telling us little about amelia than the surface. the performances were also flat, which suprised me because i find swank to be one of the most delightful actresses of our time. overall a solid watch for a popcorn flick, but could have been excellent and wasnt.
  • movieguru12
    July 28, 2010
    movieguru12
    The story of the remarkable journey that Amelia Earhart made across the Atlantic & Pacific Ocean. This movie truly captures the essence of Amelia Earhart & is worth seeing.
  • neverteaseaweasel
    February 11, 2010
    neverteaseaweasel
    I wish there were more movies like Amelia out there. It is just a good, solid movie all around. It is ambitious without being pretentious; historical without being stale; compelling while still being fairly simple. If the film had some sort of a plot, I completely missed it. Obvi... read moreously, it is all leading up to Earnhart's big crash, but besides that there really is not any kind of a story. The characters are all interesting enough, though maybe a bit flat and generic. Hilary Swank and Richard Gere carry a certain respectability, although I'm not all that familiar with either of them. However, Ewan McGregor, Mia Wasikoska, and Joe Anderson, I do like. I was really surprised at how visual the film is. It is beautifully shot and presented. Lots of great costumes, lots of great locations, it is pretty much flawless visually. it is not so much that film falls flat in any way, as that it never takes off. It never really got under my skin, nor did I care all that much about what was going on. At the same time, Amelia really is well worth watching. It is not going to take the world by storm, but it is a good movie all the same.
  • flickfever
    October 30, 2009
    flickfever
    When it comes to biopics, the audience is always teetering on a fine line between learning the facts and being entertained. Usually, by their inherent nature of being fact-based stories, biographical adaptations can succumb to this and either tell a very informative story or comp... read moreletely ignore the history and present a dazzling piece of entertainment. Very rarely does a movie come along where you get a balanced dose of both history and "popcorn" value. Sadly, Amelia isn't one of those rare exceptions.

    Although the life of Amelia Earhart (especially the events leading up to her death--or disappearance) is widely regarded, it has never been fully or richly adapted to the screen the way the current Mira Nair-directed film attempts to do. Unfortunately, the movie suffers from having an A-list actress filling some very big shoes--and doing a fine job at it. But the movie really offers no other novelty than the fact that it's being made about 70 years after the events have transpired.

    Sure, the movie is visually stunning and a joy to watch because of its attention to detail; the period clothes, mannerisms and the archival footage used. But the movie really doesn't present anything new or that you didn't already learn in your fourth-grade history class. It simply wraps up the Earhart drama into a tidy little box and puts a big pretty bow on it.

    Since most people already know the outcome of this film, it would have been nice if there had been more of a conflict presented in the film. Perhaps more of the terrifying final dialogue between Earhart's lost plane and flight command on the ground where she was to have landed. Instead, we are dealt a melodramatic love-triangle plot between Earhart, her husband and her flight consultant which was really not an interesting way to pass the time between watching Amelia fli high.

    Overall, the movie was not atrocious (as some of the critics have proclaimed.) The movie is quiant, well-produced and very appealing to those who consider themselves aficionados to Earhart's cause or of aviation in general. But what should have been an epic tale of adventure and high-flying emotions, instead, treads familiar water and flies the turbulent skies of familiarity because of its conventional point-of-view and predictable romantic skew.
  • gator681
    August 17, 2011
    gator681
    It is 1937. Amelia Earhart(Hilary Swank) is saying goodbye to her husband George Putnam(Richard Gere) before embarking on a historic round the world flight with her navigator Fred Noonan(Christopher Eccleston).

    It is 1928. Amelia Earhart is meeting George Putnam, a publisher... read more, wanting to be the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. Fine, he says, but it will be as a passenger.(At least, it's not as a stewardess.) In any case, she is instrumental in the flight's success which she parlays into fame, eventually meeting Gene Vidal(Ewan McGregor).

    There is a certain irony in Charles Lindbergh at first overshadowing Amelia Earhart in her early flying career, as "The Spirit of Saint Louis" overshadows "Amelia" with its similar structure.(If one were of a cynical nature, one could point out that Lindbergh knew when to quit.) Admittedly, "Amelia" is a very good looking movie(as are most of Mira Nair's films) and has perfectly cast Hilary Swank in the lead while Cherry Jones as Eleanor Roosevelt is inspired casting of the highest order. Even with that, the movie is less than gripping, grounding Earhart and not in a good way. Yes, "The Spirit of Saint Louis" was pure mythology but it proved that we do need our heroes. So, what happens with "Amelia" is that it deconstructs the wrong person without anything interesting being said. At least, it does not speculate any more than necessary(which Gore Vidal, here invoked, has elsewhere), inferring that air navigation of the time was not an exact science(On the first transatlantic flight, she asks if it is Ireland on their arrival. No, Wales, responds a resident. Whoops.). Even then, the movie goes on a little too long.
  • jeffboam
    August 9, 2010
    jeffboam
    No-Frills flying. Such a term best describes Amelia, a film that is neither an economy class popcorn flick nor first class critical darling. No, this high-flying bio-pic is more business class, calculatingly and slickly designed to bait Oscar?if filmgoers were still living in the... read more 1990s. Every scene looks picture postcard pristine. Every player hits their marks and remembers their lines. Nearly every scene is ripped from a historical footnote. But the days of bloated dramas that win Oscars because they tick off all of the right boxes went down with the Titanic. Now, such award baiting pictures need more than just heart?they need a soul full of depth, emotion, and authenticity. Despite good intentions, Amelia seems better suited as a pay cable Movie-of-the-Week.

    From director Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding, The Namesake) comes this PG-rated bio-pic of larger-than-life aviatrix Amelia Earhart (Swank), whose flights and loves (Gere, Ewan McGregor) made her a global phenomenon.

    Swank and Gere embody their roles splendidly, but never generate the sparks necessary for an on-screen romance that spans the breadth of the movie. In the hands of director Nair, they are never at a loss for beautiful trappings. Perhaps, Amelia?s greatest strengths lie in the few Oscar boxes that it doesn?t check off. Coming in under two hours, this breezy bio-pic feels anything but epic. Also, all involved managed to render Earhart?s life with a family-friendly PG rating and NOT make it feel cloyingly unreal. Still, perhaps because of this, it comes off more as a filmstrip than hard-hitting biography.

    Bottom Line: Plane average.

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Critic Reviews

Rex Reed
December 10, 2009
Rex Reed, New York Observer

It has beautiful cinematography, a star performance that is shocking in its authenticity, a careful eye for nuance and detail and an irresistible blend of action and romance that should spell automati... Full Review

A.O. Scott
October 26, 2009
A.O. Scott, At the Movies

Wwhy does such an exciting life make such a dull movie? Full Review

David Denby
October 26, 2009
David Denby, New Yorker

Amelia is handsome yet predictable and high-minded -- not a dud, exactly, but too proper, too reserved for its swaggering subject. Full Review

David Edelstein
October 26, 2009
David Edelstein, New York Magazine

It's all so glancing and superficial that the movie doesn't seem to have a present tense. It goes by like coming attractions. It is, however, a treasury of bad biopic dialogue. Full Review

Dana Stevens
October 23, 2009
Dana Stevens, Slate

Directed by Mira Nair and executive-produced by its star Hilary Swank, the movie seems oddly preoccupied with the audience's approval for its subject. Full Review

Rick Groen
October 23, 2009
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail

Seldom has a bio's style clashed so deafeningly with its content. Full Review

Lisa Kennedy
October 23, 2009
Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post

The movie is as conventional a biopic as Earhart was an unconventional woman. Full Review

Tom Maurstad
October 23, 2009
Tom Maurstad, Dallas Morning News

Amelia is not very good, and not very good in ways that collect and showcase all the familiar failings of the classic biopic.

Manohla Dargis
October 23, 2009
Manohla Dargis, New York Times

Alas, excesses of any pleasurable kind are absent from this exasperatingly dull production.

Michael O'Sullivan
October 23, 2009
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post

Look, nobody's asking for a miniseries here, but at times the movie feels more like a History Channel documentary -- respectful to the point of reverential -- than a rip-snorting yarn. Full Review

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  • Hilary Swank's portrayal of Amelia Earhart in the film "Amelia" was the second to be seen on the silver screen in 2009. The first can be found in "Night at the Museum 2" in which a bubbly Amy Adams plays the doomed pilot.
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Amelia Trivia

  • In Terminal, what airline does the flight attendant Amelia Warren work for?  Answer »
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  • In the 1995 movie Casper, what is the name of Kat's mother (she comes back as an angel)?  Answer »
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