"Faulty Take Off"
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What You Need To Know:
Dramatically, AMELIA never quite works, despite strong production values. Viewers see Amelia as an icon, but they never understand her as a person. The movie also does not reveal why she falls in love with George or has an affair. It does not speculate what happened to her. The dialogue sometimes feels stilted and corny. Finally, the movie’s Romantic worldview requires caution.
Headline: ** Faulty Take Off **
Title: AMELIA
Quality: * * Acceptability: -1
SUBTITLES: None
WARNING CODES:
Language: L
Violence: V
Sex: S
Nudity: N
RATING: PG-13
RELEASE: October 23, 2009
TIME: 111 minutes
STARRING: Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor, Christopher Eccleston, Joe Anderson, Cherry Jones, and Mia Wasikowska
DIRECTOR: Mira Mair
PRODUCERS: Ted Waitt, Kevin Hyman, and Lydia Dean Pilcher
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Ron Bass and Hilary Swank
WRITERS: Ron Bass and Anna Hamilton Phelan
BASED ON THE NOVELS BY: Susan Butler and Mary S. Lovell
DISTRIBUTOR: Fox Searchlight Pictures
CONTENT: (RoRo, Fe, C, B, Ab, L, V, S, N, AA, D, M) Strong Romantic worldview mixed with minor feminist elements along with Christian content of man concerning praying and heroine asks for prayer, but another man says he’s not religious; two light obscenities and two profanities; plane crashes from low altitude and man hits head but is okay; adultery and implied sexual relations between unmarried couple; upper male nudity; drinking and drunkenness; smoking; and, adultery.
GENRE: Drama
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Teenagers and adults
REVIEWER: Jeff Holder
REVIEW: AMELIA is the story of celebrated aviator pioneer Amelia Earhart’s rise to fame and her untimely disappearance.
Amelia (played by Hilary Swank) meets publisher George Putnam (played by Richard Gere) who offers her the chance to be a passenger aboard a trans-Atlantic flight, becoming the first woman to cross by plane. She does and quickly becomes a celebrity writing books, lecturing, and starting a line of clothing and luggage. She begins an organization for women aviators and becomes an advocate for commercial aviation. Amelia and George marry.
Amelia flies solo across the Atlantic, and her celebrity stardom rises. At home, however, things are not as good. Amelia has an affair with Gene Vidal (played by Ewan McGregor), though she later returns to George.
Amelia stages an attempt to fly around the world, something that had never been done. After a takeoff crash on her first attempt, Amelia and navigator Fred Noonan fly from Miami, across Africa and Asia. In Papau New Guinea, they refuel to do the dangerous Pacific crossing, needing to land to refuel again on a small island only two miles wide.
As a drama, AMELIA never quite works. Viewers see Amelia as an icon and as a Kansas girl who wants to fly, but they never really understand her much as a person. The movie also does not reveal why she falls in love with George or why she has an affair with Gene. The movie also does not speculate what happened to her.
The production values are strong, and there is a feel for 1930’s Americana. The dialogue at times feels stilted and a little corny, however, especially with swelling dramatic music underneath.
As Amelia takes her final flight, the story gains much needed tension and momentum. Viewers do feel pity for George when he learns the news of her disappearance, though, again, they don’t really know who he is or the depth of his relationship with Amelia.
There is very little foul language. Also, while Amelia and George are clearly sharing a bed in a scene before they’re married, the situation is implied.
Marriage is a bitter topic for Amelia. She initially tells George “no” when he proposes. She is concerned about not having her freedom, epitomized by her flights. Once she does marry George – and insists that “obey” be removed from the wedding vows – she writes to him and says that she will not hold him to a “medieval code of faithfulness” and she expects him to do the same. So, she has an affair with Gene, which she later stops when she sees how it has hurt George.
Amelia tells George to pray for her at her initial flight and George says he’s “not a praying man.” When they are out of fuel and face crashing, Fred the navigator closes his eyes and earnestly prays silently.
AMELIA is a movie that shows off the public aspect to this famous aviation pioneer but it never reveals much more than that about its subject. The Romantic worldview requires caution.
Please address your comments to:
Stephen Gilula, President/COO
Nancy Utley, President/COO
Fox Searchlight Pictures
20th Century Fox Film Corp. (A division of Fox, Inc. and News Corp.)
10201 West Pico Blvd., Bldg. 38
Los Angeles, CA 90035
Phone: (310) 369-1000; Fax: (310) 369-2359
Website: www.foxsearchlight.com
SUMMARY: AMELIA is the story of celebrated aviator pioneer Amelia Earhart’s rise to fame and her untimely disappearance. The movie has strong production values, but the drama never delves too deep into getting to know the person of Amelia and has a non-Christian, adulterous view toward marriage.
IN BRIEF:
AMELIA stars Hillary Swank in a story about the celebrated aviator pioneer Amelia Earhart’s rise to fame and her untimely disappearance. Amelia meets publisher George Putnam (played by Richard Gere). He offers her the chance to be a passenger aboard a trans-Atlantic flight, becoming the first woman to cross by plane. She quickly becomes a celebrity writing books, lecturing, and starting a clothing and luggage line. She also begins an organization for women aviators while promoting commercial aviation. Amelia and George marry. Amelia flies solo across the Atlantic and her stardom rises. At home, Amelia has an affair but stops seeing the other man when she realizes how much this hurts her husband. Amelia then proposes to make her famous attempt to fly around the world.
Dramatically, AMELIA never quite works, despite strong production values. Viewers see Amelia as an icon, but they never understand her as a person. The movie also does not reveal why she falls in love with George or has an affair. It does not speculate what happened to her. The dialogue sometimes feels stilted and corny. Finally, the movie’s Romantic worldview requires caution.
Content:
(RoRo, Fe, C, B, AB, L, V, S, N, AA, D, M) Strong Romantic worldview mixed with minor feminist elements along with Christian content of man concerning praying and heroine asks for prayer, but another man says he’s not religious; two light obscenities and two profanities; plane crashes from low altitude and man hits head but is okay; adultery and implied sexual relations between unmarried couple; upper male nudity; drinking and drunkenness; smoking; and, adultery.
More Detail:
AMELIA is the story of celebrated aviator pioneer Amelia Earhart’s rise to fame and her untimely disappearance.
Amelia (played by Hilary Swank) meets publisher George Putnam (played by Richard Gere) who offers her the chance to be a passenger aboard a trans-Atlantic flight, becoming the first woman to cross by plane. She does and quickly becomes a celebrity writing books, lecturing, and starting a line of clothing and luggage. She begins an organization for women aviators and becomes an advocate for commercial aviation. Amelia and George marry.
Amelia flies solo across the Atlantic, and her celebrity stardom rises. At home, however, things are not as good. Amelia has an affair with Gene Vidal (played by Ewan McGregor), though she later returns to George.
Amelia stages an attempt to fly around the world, something that had never been done. After a takeoff crash on her first attempt, Amelia and navigator Fred Noonan fly from Miami, across Africa and Asia. In Papau New Guinea, they refuel to do the dangerous Pacific crossing, needing to land to refuel again on a small island only two miles wide.
As a drama, AMELIA never quite works. Viewers see Amelia as an icon and as a Kansas girl who wants to fly, but they never really understand her much as a person. The movie also does not reveal why she falls in love with George or why she has an affair with Gene. The movie also does not speculate what happened to her.
The production values are strong, and there is a feel for 1930’s Americana. The dialogue at times feels stilted and a little corny, however, especially with swelling dramatic music underneath.
As Amelia takes her final flight, the story gains much needed tension and momentum. Viewers do feel pity for George when he learns the news of her disappearance, though, again, they don’t really know who he is or the depth of his relationship with Amelia.
There is very little foul language. Also, while Amelia and George are clearly sharing a bed in a scene before they’re married, the situation is implied.
Marriage is a bitter topic for Amelia. She initially tells George “no” when he proposes. She is concerned about not having her freedom, epitomized by her flights. Once she does marry George – and insists that “obey” be removed from the wedding vows – she writes to him and says that she will not hold him to a “medieval code of faithfulness” and she expects him to do the same. So, she has an affair with Gene, which she later stops when she sees how it has hurt George.
Amelia tells George to pray for her at her initial flight and George says he’s “not a praying man.” When they are out of fuel and face crashing, Fred the navigator closes his eyes and earnestly prays silently.
AMELIA is a movie that shows off the public aspect to this famous aviation pioneer but it never reveals much more than that about its subject. The Romantic worldview requires caution.
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