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Movies & TV

Amelia

AMELIA (Fox, 2009) D: Mira Nair, w/ Hilary Swank, Richard Gere. Rating: NNN DVD package: NNN Rating: NNN


Director Mira Nair and star Hilary Swank do a fine job of conveying the joy and terror of piloting tiny, fragile planes over beautiful land- and seascapes through the vastness of the sky.

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In the air, Amelia Earhart is a genuine hero. On the ground, her story is less enthralling. A young woman in love with flying, she stays aloft with the backing of businessman George Putnam (Richard Gere) and money earned from book sales, lectures and product endorsements. She becomes a national hero, promotes women in aviation, marries Putnam and has a lover on the side (Ewan McGregor). Whatever flaws she may have – self-centredness comes to mind – Nair brushes over lightly. She’s filming a love letter, not a character study.

Swank gives Earhart some depth and enormous likeability, all the while doing an accurate impersonation of the real woman. You can check that for yourself in the seven newsreel clips that are the best part of the extras. She also gets to wear lots of great outfits.

EXTRAS Making-of doc, historical importance doc, Amelia Earhart newsreel items. Widescreen. English audio. English, French, Spanish subtitles.

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