Amelia

Rating: ***

Here’s another film that ideally should have had no problem taking off but just doesn’t soar. What could be more inspiring than the story of Amelia Earhart who became the first woman and only the second person to fly solo across the Atlantic and who died in her attempt to fly across the globe — something others told her “couldn’t be done”.

However,Amelia is flat,with insipid dialogues straight out of a play. Swank’s major contribution to the story is her ear-to-ear dazzling smile and a bored McGregor is her brief lover. It’s only Gere who seems to ingest some excitement into a story that dates after all to one of the most fascinating periods of history,and concerns one of its most engaging mysteries. The biggest let-downs are the flight sequences,with Nair quickly wrapping up the same with her camera focused as fleetingly on Amelia’s face as the clouds outside or the seas below. More than flights into history,these seem like gentle voyages into the sunset.

The story of Amelia and George Putman (Gere) is nicely told though,with Nair getting across the unique dimensions of their relationship that rested as much on love as on genuine respect and true understanding of each other’s natures.