Comments on: Review: Amelia

By: Catherine

Catherine — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 09:47:43 +0000

It seems to me, coming from a female teen who looks at Amelia Earhart as an inspiration for always sticking to what you love, that she is amde out in this movie as a – how can I not be frank here? – scumbag, for lack of a better word, mainly because of her outlook on the poor compared to her relationship with Gene Vidal (especially because the screenwrites did less than barely acknowledge the fact that her marriage to George Putnam was open). You see her in one scene, looking at all the homeless men and women, and genuinely caring about them being poor, and in the next scene she's making out with a man who is not her husband. I understand that she told George she would not be faithful, and didn't expect him to be, but nonetheless, in my opinion, it creates a not-so-sweet outlook on the aviatrix for old and young viewers alike. I watced this movie with my very judgemental parents – who aren't exactly history buffs and don't exactly share my love for Amelia – and they were utterly disgusted by her additude, all while I was telling them how Hollywood-ized this movie was and trying to get them to look at her differently. They didn't.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't she and George married more for convenience than love? He was a publicist, she was a woman who needed one handy. It works. And she and Gene just happened to hit it off at whatever party/banquet thing they were at (on a side note, I also felt that this movie constantly left the viewers in raw confusion following Amelia to all of the parties and whatnot). This movie seems to stretch the relationship between both of them, and makes it look like she is cheating on her husband, when really it was open anyway.

I know I've been rambling, but this movie has just left a completely wretched taste in my mouth about the pilot. I didn't know much about her personal life before save her marriage to George Putnam (and didn't think this movie would focus on that – which it did) and so I pictured her as this amazing woman who loved to fly and didn't get caught up in all the drama of marrying and affairs and such as this movie portrays her. The letter she wrote to Gene in the movie… did she actually write him a letter saying all of that? Because that's what changed my outlook on Amelia the most, probably. The fact that the movie displays an intimate relationship between her and Gene, but also between her and George. Now, I'm not one to talk about love, but it seems that a person cannot have two different relationships of the same kind – in this case, romantic – with two different people.

With a rating of PG, I'm sure a lot of kids watched this film and I'm sure a lot of those kids has a lot of questions their poor parents weren't ready to answer just yet. I was expecting an inspiring film about following your dreams, never letting anyone stand in the way of what you love, and a simply amazing and wonderful woman, but instead got the exact opposite, and though she's still my hero, I'll never look at the world-famous aviatrix the same again.

Thank you, screenwriters, producers, Mira Nair, and whoever else helped morph Amelia Earhart into the careless woman you made her out to be.

By: amoviefan

amoviefan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:06:17 +0000

Consider yourself lucky. This is a dreadfully boring movie that may lead you to hate anyone and anything even remotely involved with it, from the cast and crew through your local cinema.

By: amoviefan

amoviefan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:06:17 +0000

Consider yourself lucky. This is a dreadfully boring movie that may lead you to hate anyone and anything even remotely involved with it, from the cast and crew through your local cinema.

By: Barbara Ganson, Ph.D

Barbara Ganson, Ph.D — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:59:22 +0000

As an aviation historian, I have to agree that the real Amelia Earhart was far more fascinating than the character in the new film Amelia. It is a shame that Hollywood does not take the time to get it right when it comes to reconstructing the historical past.
Most of Amelia's flying friends did not approve of her marriage to George Palmer Putnam.
He came across as somewhat likeable, when in reality aviators, both men and women feared him because of his influence with the press. Amelia, as a child, was not interested in airplanes. She learned to fly in her early twenties. She did not fly much, given that she had less than 1800 hours in 1937. She began in flying in 1921. Although the film was inspiring at times, the characters laced depth.

By: Cole_Abaius

Cole_Abaius — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 05:10:25 +0000

As much as I hate agreeing with Bethany, she's pretty much dead on here. This is the kind of tripe that is an all-too-obvious Oscar bait, and like the kid who is too desperate for attention, it should be avoided.

I have no doubt that this film will find an audience, but personally, it was slow, flatly acted and terribly written. I imagine it would be difficult to make a movie about her because her personal life seems fairly dull (an affair and some commercials), but even the flying lays flat.

I'm surprised that the same director that did Monsoon Wedding did this because it just goes nowhere. I'm also surprised that an Oscar-grab film worse than Changeling could have been made.

By: Kangaroo Be Stoned

Kangaroo Be Stoned — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 21:49:25 +0000

Did you read Ebert's review? He gave it three stars.

By: b.rae

b.rae — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:26:19 +0000

I know that, and it's made clear in the movie. I hope I didn't muddy it in my review. There is a *child* version of Gore Vidal in the film. My issue is the scene about the wallpaper, between Amelia and child Gore. It's clear from her biographies that she was closer to one of Putnam's children, but neither one of them (Putnam's kids, he had 2 from a previous marriage), ever make an appearance. It's just odd, and it seems like they just do it for the name recognition of Gore Vidal.

Her affair with Gene is in the movie, as well as a hint to some of the work that she does in DC. It's just a mess. Eccleston is fantastic. He and the radio operator at the end? Only convincing performances of the film.

By: Sammie

Sammie — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:17:42 +0000

Actually, it is mentioned in at least one of Earhart's biographies that she was linked romantically to Gene (Eugene) Vidal, Gore Vidal's father. Ewan McGregor is playing Gene Vidal, not Gore Vidal.

I'm so delighted to hear about Eccleston's performance being so good, though. I'm looking forward to watching him, even if the rest of the movie's lousy.

By: ladyofthelake

ladyofthelake — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:51:25 +0000

I was worried about this film the minute I heard who was directing it. I still wanna see it to judge for myself, but no theater is playing it near where I live, and I live in New Jersey.