When it comes to predicting the film and its players. I say go with your gut.
Mine said it would not amount to much in the end.
However, The Hollywood Reporter has given ‘Amelia’ a rave, and the word from the London Film Fest is very positive. It is supposed to be a great old school bio pic, however as the Academy gets younger will they be impressed.
Apparently Swank is great says Ray Bennett:
”Freckle-faced, prairie-voiced and fiercely independent, Hilary Swank's depiction of aviator Amelia Earhart in Mira Nair's biographical film "Amelia" is of a high order. It ranks with recent real-life portrayals of Ray Charles by Jamie Foxx and Truman Capote by Philip Seymour Hoffman and could be similarly awards-bound.”However one review can not a front runner make.
Things could still go horribly wrong.
Justin Chang of Variety says:
”To say that "Amelia" never gets off the ground would be an understatement; it barely makes it out of the hangar. Handsomely mounted yet dismayingly superficial, Mira Nair's film offers snazzy aerial photography and inspirational platitudes in lieu of insight into Amelia Earhart's storied life and high-flying career. Prestigious packaging, led by Hilary Swank's gussied-up performance as the iconic aviatrix, portends friendly commercial skies for the Fox Searchlight release, at least initially. But critical disdain is unlikely to be countered by much audience enthusiasm, even among admirers of this kind of old-fashioned, star-powered bio-mush.”he he. Bad reviews are fun to read.
He goes on to say of Swank:”
But it's Swank who must shoulder the heaviest thesping burden, and her Amelia remains earthbound. An actress who does her best work in plain-spoken, contempo working-class roles, Swank is a decent physical match for her subject, and her slightly androgynous appearance here underscores Earhart's standing as a woman among men. But the character's passion hasn't been sufficiently dramatized (this Amelia likes to fly planes because the script says so), and every effort to transform Swank -- the close-cropped blonde hair, the '30s costumes designed by Kasia Walicka Maimone, the actress' wobbly Kansas accent -- ends up feeling like one fussy affectation on top of another.”We will have to wait in see what the rest of the pack say before dismissing, however it does not look promising - although best actress is famous for nominating ok roles is not loved films.
The main shame is for Mira Nair who would be a wonderful addition to the women vying for a Best Director Oscar nom. One day her day will come. She seems to have difficulty tackling large ambitious projects stateside and aside from ‘Hysterical Blindness’, I like her better doing home grown projects.
1 comment:
I'd be so happy if someone put an end to Swank's Oscar baity role magical streak. She obviously will get nominated for this and even win a few critics awards along the way (that she's being compared to Foxx and Hoffman is enough), but someone really should see beyond all this artifice!
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