Amelia (2009)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Michael S

  
  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… More
  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 Wedding") 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!

• Dean M

  
  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… More
  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, advocated 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.

• Chris W

  
  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… More
  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 acting 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.

• Lorenzo v

  
  <i>"Who wants a life imprisoned in safety?"</i> 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. <center><font size=+2… More
  <i>"Who wants a life imprisoned in safety?"</i> 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. <center><font size=+2 face="Century Schoolbook"><b><u>REVIEW</u></b></font></center> 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.

• danny d

  
  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… More
  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 just 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.

• Cassie H

  
  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.

• Jake .

  
  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.… More
  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. Obviously, 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.

• Rico Z

  
  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… More
  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 completely 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.

• Walter M

  
  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,… More
  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, 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.

• Jeff B

  
  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… More
  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 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.

• Bryan D

  
  Hillary Swank is the most OVER rated actress in the business. This movie is almost as boring and predictable as she is. On a side note, as long as it doesn't irritate you too much, it can be a good cure for insomnia.

• Sol C

  
  I had a mixed to positive reaction to the film. One the positive, the performances are top notch. Swank is great in the role. I can see her getting an Oscar Nomination however I don't know if she would win. Gere, McGregor, and Eccleston are good in there supporting roles. The… More
  I had a mixed to positive reaction to the film. One the positive, the performances are top notch. Swank is great in the role. I can see her getting an Oscar Nomination however I don't know if she would win. Gere, McGregor, and Eccleston are good in there supporting roles. The cinematography in the film is really good. The music score is also good. On the negative, the pacing was off. The film is still worth seeing, especially for Swank's performance.

• Deb S

  
  I was looking forward to seeing this biopic about the famed Aviatrix Amelia Earhart (portrayed by Hilary Swank); the headstrong woman from Kansas who attempted to circumnavigate the globe by plane in 1932 and almost made it, disappearing on the penultimate leg of her journey.… More
  I was looking forward to seeing this biopic about the famed Aviatrix Amelia Earhart (portrayed by Hilary Swank); the headstrong woman from Kansas who attempted to circumnavigate the globe by plane in 1932 and almost made it, disappearing on the penultimate leg of her journey. Unfortunately I was disappointed with what I saw. With a dull script and events unfolding at a grindingly slow pace it was nearly impossible to watch in its entirety and I was bored to drowsiness and outraged that anyone could make an exotic life of an adventurous character into such a snore-fest. The film finally picks up at the time where Amelia while married to George Putnam (Richard Gere), begins an affair with a member of the Aeronautics Board (Ewan McGregor steals the show as Gene Vidal. Simply put, I thought he was sexy and quite a temptation for this American pioneer). I get the feeling they didn't really understand the person they were trying to depict, seeing her as a helpless female dependent on men in her quest for notoriety instead of the feminist pioneer who spent her life seeking adventure as she conquered new vistas. Her fateful disappearance and her last flight remains shrouded in mystery so when the ending we all saw coming finally arrived, it was just that, the end of a story we already know, no less exciting after watching this uninspired portrayal of a woman who truly was inspirational.

• Philip P

  
  The story of Amelia Earhart is no doubt extremely interesting. I have thought it one of the great mysteries of this world since the first time I heard about it in grade school. It seems with this level of intrigue one could base a film on the pilots life and come out with nothing but… More
  The story of Amelia Earhart is no doubt extremely interesting. I have thought it one of the great mysteries of this world since the first time I heard about it in grade school. It seems with this level of intrigue one could base a film on the pilots life and come out with nothing but a solid drama. Especially when you employ such gifted actors as Hilary Swank and Richard Gere in the leads. Swank does a fine impression it seems and looks remarkably like the real Earhart and Gere does his natural charming thing. The kicker here is, the movie is just slow. It looks gorgeous and it has a few bumps that we get interested in along the way, but we all know what this is building to and until we reach those last twenty minutes or so, we are kind of just coasting along as a viewer. This probably looked like a serious award contender on paper-a bio pic with previous winners Swank and Gere as well as a big enough budget to pull off the time period. A lot seemed to be made of director Mira Nair whom Ive never heard of before, but she certainly has a good cinematographer here and really, it is not a hoorible film by any means, but in trying to base the core of the film around Earhart and Putnum's romance it just doesn't seem to work. The chemistry isn't there and we don't feel the urge to care, we just want to see the inevitable. And once we get to the inevitable, the film is already over.

• Juli R

  
  A good biopic of early feminist Amelia Earhart with stunning period details.

• Leo L

  
  Interesting movie that depicts the life of Amelia Earhart. Fascinating landscapes. Intriguing story plot formation that follows a female aviator wanting to pursue her dream of flying. Directed by my favorite director, Mira Nair. Great cast- Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan… More
  Interesting movie that depicts the life of Amelia Earhart. Fascinating landscapes. Intriguing story plot formation that follows a female aviator wanting to pursue her dream of flying. Directed by my favorite director, Mira Nair. Great cast- Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor, Christopher Eccleston, Cherry Jones, and Mia Wasikowska. Worthy!

• Sarah P

  
  I was expecting more with having Hilary Swank and Richard Gere in the starring roles, but it kind of fell flat.

• Anastasia B

  
  Pretty decent film. Don't expect it to blow your mind, though!

• Erin C

  
  It was pretty boring. There really wasn't a whole lot of history shown in this, and the little there was, it was brief. It focused more on the relationship between Earhart and Putnam, and the chemistry between Swank and Gere wasn't believable to me.

• d j

  
  I found myself hoping that(even though I have know the story for years) the Island would be sighted! I think the film was very well made and directed, the cast put forth a very strong performance, although the movie comes off as stale and boring

Read all 20 featured audience ratings