Amelia (2009)

Directed by Mira Nair. Starring Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor, Christopher Eccleston, Mia Wasikowska, Joe Anderson, Cherry Jones, Aaron Abrams. [PG]

Bland, unimaginative biopic of famed aviator Amelia Earhart (Swank) is earthbound enough to wonder if anyone involved actually enjoys taking to the skies, winding up being more interested in her bloodless love life—married to promoter George Putnam (Gere) and fooling around with federal aviation director Gene Vidal (McGregor)—and her discomfort doing endorsements and putting up with conservative attitudes about women’s roles. Old-fashioned in a hermetically-sealed sort of way, the actors are so disengaged from one another they might as well have filmed all their scenes solo in front of green-screens. Director Nair keeps aiming for the crowd-pleasing notes, but the sounds they produce are muffled and off-key. As for scribes Ronald Bass and Anna Hamilton Phelan, they’re adapting two different Earhart biographies (Susan Butler’s “East to the Dawn” and Mary S. Lovell’s “The Sound of Wings”) but ultimately do little beyond regurgitate a checklist of events and quotations. Barely worthwhile even as something that middle school history teachers could put on to keep their classrooms occupied for a couple of days. Swank also executive produced.

36/100