Amelia (2009)

A look at the life of legendary American pilot Amelia Earhart, who disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 in an attempt to make a flight around the world.

Director:

Mira Nair

Writers:

Ronald Bass, Anna Hamilton Phelan,

Stars:

Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hilary Swank	...	Amelia Earhart
Richard Gere	...	George Putnam
Ewan McGregor	...	Gene Vidal
Christopher Eccleston	...	Fred Noonan
Joe Anderson	...	Bill Stultz
Cherry Jones	...	Eleanor Roosevelt
Mia Wasikowska	...	Elinor Smith
Aaron Abrams	...	Slim Gordon
Dylan Roberts	...	Leo Bellarts
Scott Yaphe	...	William Dalten
Tom Fairfoot	...	Balfour
Ryann Shane	...	Young Amelia
William Cuddy	...	Gore Vidal
Elizabeth Shepherd	...	Frances Putnam
Richard Donat	...	Gallagher

Storyline

Amelia Earhart, a Kansas girl, discovers the thrill of aviation at age 23, and within 12 years has progressed to winning the Distinguished Flying Cross for being the first woman to pilot a plane solo across the Atlantic Ocean. At age 39, she sets out on an attempt to circumnavigate the globe, an adventure that catapults her into aviation myth.

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Plot Keywords:

ocean | flying | pilot | pacific ocean | atlantic ocean | 

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Taglines:

Visionary. Lover. Dreamer. Fighter. Legend. Icon.

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Genres:

Adventure | Biography | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some sensuality, language, thematic elements and smoking

Details

Official Sites:

Fox Searchlight [us] Official site [fr]

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 October 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Amelia - Kalandok szárnyán

Filming Locations:

Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$3,904,047 (USA) (23 October 2009)

Gross:

$14,241,034 (USA) (8 January 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox Searchlight Pictures, Avalon Pictures, AE Electra Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie shows Amelia Earhart finishing third in the first Santa Monica-to-Cleveland Women's Air Derby in 1929, but does not explain why. At the last stop before the final leg of the race to Cleveland, Amelia Earhart and her friend Ruth Nichols were tied for first. Nichols took off right before Earhart, but her aircraft clipped a tractor on the runway and flipped over. Instead of taking off, Earhart ran to Ruth's plane to drag her to safety. After Earhart was sure that Nichols was not seriously hurt, she took off for Cleveland but finished third largely due to her delayed takeoff. A Warner Bros. movie, Women in the Wind, is also based on this air race and features a plot loosely inspired by this incident.

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Goofs

In the ticker-tape scene, the cameramen are using blue-tinted flashbulbs, which are more recent and intended for color film.

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Quotes

Amelia Earhart: Who wants a life imprisoned in safety?

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Connections

Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince/(500) Days of Summer/Homecoming (2009)

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Soundtracks

"You Do Something to Me"
(1929)
Written by Cole Porter
Arranged by Andy Farber (uncredited)
Performed by Angela McCluskey and Andy Farber & His Swing Mavens
Produced by Peter Nashel (uncredited)

User Reviews

"The most effective way to do it, is to do it." and Swank delivers a solid Amelia Earhart

If you are looking for the typical "Hollywood" bit of celluloid that is so common then maybe you should should steer clear of "Amelia". If you are interested in the world's most famous aviatrix Amelia Earhart then I think you will enjoy what was accomplished with this film. I appreciated it even more after reading Earhart's books and books about her life.

Hillary Swank delivers the best & most faithful interpretation of Amelia Earhart. What Leonardo DiCaprio does for "Howard Hughes" in the Aviator, Swank does for Earhart in "Amelia."

If it were a movie by men about a man, would critics have treated this film more fairly? I think so. "Amelia" is a biopic comparable to the "Aviator" but it just doesn't have the names DiCaprio & Scorcese attached to it.

"...now and then women should do for themselves what men have already done - occasionally what men have not done--thereby establishing themselves as persons, and perhaps encouraging other women toward greater independence of thought and action. Some such consideration was a contributing reason for my wanting to do what I so much wanted to do." - Amelia Earhart

Long after Earhart's disappearance in the South Pacific, she continues to inspire people. "Amelia" is a fitting tribute to Earhart's legacy of inspiration.