In college I developed a great fascination with the Amelia saga, and since it remains a mystery it has always intrigued me. As a baby boomer I was a prime target for the conspiracy theory that she was doing covert reconnaisance of Japanese installations, but this too was never proven. It saddened me to think this iconic figure would have done that.

But what saddened me more was the lame treatment this film gave to it's subject. I expected more depth and personality to the characters, and some look at the controversy Earhart generated. It was so much white wash of the story, and seemed like Hillary Swank and Richard Gere were aware of this with their lackluster performances.

two small stars.

Amelia Earhart promoted aviation and encouraged women to become flyers.  Alas, she was a "hot dog" pilot before the term became popular.  Her navigator on the first around-the-world attempt, which she planned to fly westward, quit because of the risks she routinely took, risks that were beyond those presented by flying itself.  The fact that she was caught up in the idea of being the first to fly around the world to the point where she brushed off the notion that she could very easily miss the flyspeck that was Howland Island is evidence of how her romanticism outweighed her practicallity.  She wanted the adulation that Charles Lindbergh enjoyed.  The irony is that Lindbergh himself was more or less the product of hyperbole.  A Navy team flew the Atlantic before he did.  His flight was a demonstration of human endurance, perhaps, but short of firing up the imaginations of people regarding aviation it really had no practical application.