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BaftaBaby 
"Always entranced by cinema."
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 Posted - 11/15/2009 : 17:09:44
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Amelia
Congratulations to director Mira Nair for extracting from Richard Gere a near-selfless performance devoid of the cutsiness that has tarnished too many of his previous roles. As a foil for Hilary Swank in the title role and -- crucially, in light of one of the least filmic, least dramatic scripts that ever drove a biopic -- he manages to graciously play 2nd fiddle, and is all the more convincing for it.
Stuart Dryburgh manages to surpass the meticulous cinematography of The Painted Veil.
And, dear friends, I'm afraid that's all I can say in praise of this film. It's far too chirpy for its own good while it rummages high and low through the resume [c.v.] of a headliner of the 1920s and 30s for some meat, some guts. We crave a tad less innuendo and a lot less wasted close-ups. Nair relies far too much on these, particularly of Swank, who does her best to convey a gamut of emotions unencumbered by context. Wrong!
The only bit of drama in this idol's life was her death, a well-known historical fact that's spawned a few songs over the intervening decades.
I'm not suggesting Earhardt wasn't an interesting person or that her unconventional lifestyle doesn't warrant a movie. But we're presented with a series of factoids and that's not enough. Lives, as we've often noted, have no inherent dramatic shape. That's what good dramatists can do - they can impose a shape to sustain a film. And they can seamlessly incorporate historical context.
It's neither the fault of the director nor the actors that this attempt is unsustainable. I suspect all participants were convinced they'd managed to puff up this flat air bed of a film with the cushioning of real emotion. You have only to compare it with [to name but 3] The Remains of the Day, The Age of Innocence or Changeling to see that they failed.
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Amelia
