Towards the end, as the story returns to that round-the-world flight, the suspense kicks in, and Swank’s performance comes into its own.
Comment
11/11/09
Amelia (2009)
20
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:138
Fresh:28
Rotten:110
Average Rating:4.4/10
Consensus: Amelia takes the compelling raw materials of its subject’s life and does little with them, conventionally ticking off Earhart's accomplishments without exploring the soul of the woman.
Genre: Dramas
US Box Office: $13,766,323
Synopsis: Visionary. Lover. Dreamer. Fighter. Legend. Icon. AMELIA. An extraordinary life of adventure, celebrity and continuing mystery comes to light in AMELIA, a vast, thrilling account of legendary... [More]
Starring: Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor, Christopher Eccleston
Director: Mira Nair
Reviews for Amelia
Top CriticHilary Swank captures her beautifully.
11/11/09
Top CriticThe period detail is brilliantly brought to life, but the film is superficial, lacking the passion of its heroine.
11/11/09
Top CriticSwanks’ clear shot at a third statuette is blocked by hulkingly dull writing and direction that could point the way towards a definitive cure for insomnia.
11/11/09
Top CriticOscar-winning actress Hilary Swank gives Earhart a convincing Kansas twang but little else in a performance that is unaccountably stiff.
11/12/09
Top CriticRomance edges ahead of adventure or characterisations and as a result, despite a soaring lead performance by Hilary Swank, the film suffers from a fatal dose of melodrama
11/05/09
Top CriticAmelia reminds us how little we really know about the lives of famous achievers who changed the world, and underlines the power of biography on screen. It's a creatively and technically accomplished film with thrills and emotional action in equal measure
11/05/09
Top CriticInstead of soaring alongside Amelia, we're left grounded by a script that spends too much time on her love life and not enough time on what made her an extraordinary woman.
10/22/09
Swank and Nair play it safe to the point of benumbing this woman's life, leaving Earhart as remote and muted as she is in the black-and-white photos and news footage of the aviator included at the film's end.
10/20/09
Wwhy does such an exciting life make such a dull movie?
10/26/09
... it is a film that fails to soar even a little bit despite being about one of the greatest flyers in the history of the planet.
11/11/09
Click to read the article
10/30/09
Top Critic[Swank is] so constrained by mannerisms that she never gets beyond the character’s surface -- although to be fair, trying to import feeling into the movie’s stilted dialogue is like trying to fly a plane blindfolded.
10/22/09
Critics may balk but Amelia is old fashioned in the best sense and soars as a big, beautiful and sweeping motion picture biography about a true American legend.
10/23/09
Amelia is a film that could have been great, but instead is an average film about an extraordinary person.
11/08/09
It just never takes off.
10/22/09
Stiff biopic of the legendary flier skims the surface of her achievements but never quite takes off.
10/22/09
Amelia modestly succeeds at inspiring its audience and provides a remarkably well-rounded role model for modern women, thanks to a terrific performance by Hilary Swank.
10/23/09
Swank has fun in the role - I haven't seen her smile this much in years - but she isn't given much complicated to do besides frustrate her friends when she digs in her heels.
10/19/09
What the film offers is melodrama, more interested in the aviatrix's bedroom activities than her spirit. Amelia hunts for complexity, but it only achieves a tedious middle ground.
10/22/09
Latest News for Amelia
October 22, 2009:
Critics Consensus: Astro Boy Doesn't Quite Soar
This week at the movies, we've got an anime hero (Astro Boy, with voice work from Kristen Bell and Nicolas Cage); a vampire war ( Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant,... More...
October 22, 2009:
Hollywood's Turbulent Relationship with Flight 
When Hilary Swank takes to the sky in "Amelia" this weekend, she'll be adding to Hollywood's long -- and, yes, rather bumpy -- fascination with flight. More...
October 08, 2009:
New: Brand New Trailer and Poster Here.
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June 28, 2009:
Trailer & Poster review
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