Will Amelia Make a Safe Landing Amidst This Year's Ten Nominees?

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The Oscar season tends to be reliably biopic-heavy, but is Mira Nair's Amelia flying in at the end of a trend? The suddenly expanded crop of potential Best Picture nominees is actually an eclectic group for once, and virtually nowhere to be found is the usual childhood flashback-triggered story of an entire, famous life. Now, Fox Searchlight has released the trailer for Amelia, and amidst an upcoming slate of splashy musicals, soccer dramas, and harrowing urban masterpieces, this conventional story of the famed aviatrix looks a little square.

Still, "square" has never been so pretty! Perhaps it's telling that in this Oscar bait drama starring a two-time Academy Award winner, the only thing that seems unexpected is how gorgeous Stuart Dryburgh's cinematography looks. Otherwise, Hilary Swank plays Earheart pretty much exactly how you'd picture her, Ewan McGregor puts in the required counterweight to the "It can't be done, Amelia!" scenes, and Richard Gere beams proudly, which is now all that is required from him when acting opposite a woman. Never have I wanted such a smooth flight to throw in a little turbulence.

VERDICT: Wake me when we land.



Comments

  • um, i love mira nair? but this just looks like "pearl harbor" but with better actors.

  • whoneedslight says:

    There is not a single movie I am looking forward to less.

  • FrancoisTrueFaux says:

    I thought at the very least this might be a chance for Swank to show of her talent, but does anyone else think she's just doing Hepburn via Blanchett?

  • FrancoisTrueFaux says:

    Whoops. Side note, I almost re-wrote the whole comment word for word from memory. Does that count for anything?

  • Juancho says:

    Ugh, Ron Bass strikes again. He's like Akiva Goldsman hopped up on estrogen.

  • Pamela Strangeways says:

    I always want to like Mira Nair's movies more than I actually do like them. Vanity Fair? The Namesake? Good ideas and good intentions dulled by emotional overindulgence.

  • I think I would like to have seen Sophia Coppola handle Amelia Earhart. She could handle a woman lost in a fog pretty well.

  • bess marvin, girl detective says:

    I hope Annette Benning isn't coming out with a movie this year.