Amelia

Plot: A look at the adult life of legendary pilot Amelia Earhart.

Starring: 2 time academy award winner Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby & Birds of America), Indie Spirit Award winner Richard Gere (Hachi & Nights in Rodanthe), Ewan McGregor (The Men Who Stare At Goats), Christopher Eccleston (GI Joe), Joe Anderson (Across the Universe & The Crazies) , Cherry Jones ("24"), & Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland).

Review: Swank is a genius at truly disappearing into a role. That's where the magic stops. Though the acting was wonderful, Amelia failed to delve into the psyche of Earhart and only gave us an essence of who she was. I felt like I was watching a well-acted news reel rather than a biopic. I wanted to know how she got into flying and what made her tick. Because of that lack of character development, I didn't like the character portrayal. Part of the story involves her enduring marriage to her publicist. It wasn't until the end of the film that I even got the notion that she even loved him. It seemed throughout most of the film that she simply married him for the money to support her flying efforts. By the end of the film, I had changed my mind, but what a long way to go not liking the main character. The special effects were also poorly done. To me, that should be a huge focus of the budget because most of the movie is spent with Mrs.Earhart in the air. Whenever she'd get into danger, I didn't feel like the effects supported that air of danger. It looked as if it was an actress sitting in a box (an unrattling, unshakable box) pretending to be in a plane nose-diving to certain death. The supporting characters didn't support her much in the movie, though they consisted of some top notch actors. This movie could've been grand, could've given us insight into who she was as a person, could've won Oscars, but it seems like they just weren't trying and didn't have the budget to support the special effects. What a shame. The last 30 minutes of the movie were fantastic.

Rating: Writing-D

Acting-A

Directing-C

Music-A

Cinematography-A

Editing-D

Costumes-A

Art Direction-C

Hair-A

Makeup-A

Visual Effects-D

*1/2- Stars