Amelia

Thank God for DVDs. Else this Diwali would have been a disaster of sorts. Firstly, the movie houses make way for the grand releases, both of which turned out to be duds to put it very mildly. What peeves you more is the fact that despite being duds, they are assured of screening for over 2 weeks. And that gave us a good opportunity to squeeze in a few movies that we have been wanting to watch for quite some time.

One of them being Mira Nair’s Amelia. The biopic, based on the life and times of the first female pilot in the world, whose life has been an inspiration for many a woman – and man – Amelia Earhart. Amelia (Hilary Swank) comes from Kansas where she grew up watching aircrafts in the early part of the century. A fascination that Nair, beautifully, yet briefly, brings to life with the titling.

And it was a matter of time, with the right encouragement that she finds herself in the office of a leading publisher of the 20s – George Putnam (Richard Gere). Putnam enlists Earhart’s services for a Trans Atlantic flight due to leave from New Foundland and find their way to St. Patrick’s country. Putnam intends to sensationalize the flight as the first one with a woman commander. A wonderful play on words – because Amelia is expected to do very little other than just stay on board.

But when the flight fails to take off, Amelia uses the opportunity to actually lead the expedition the next day. So what if the effort finds them reaching St. James’ country instead. Amelia finds herself in the record books for being the first woman to complete a Trans Atlantic flight. The first of many records that she would set. And fall short eventually of only her first attempt to circumnavigate the globe. A record that – most people in aviation would agree – should have been rightfully hers.

Nair, through the little under 2 hours of the movie, uncovers various facets of Earhart’s life. Her love affair with Putnam. Her affection for Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor) and his son Gore. Her pioneering effort with respect to aviation in general and the formation of the 99ers, the first flying club for ladies in the US. Her pure love for flying without any desperation to be called the best – because she firmly knew that she was.

A good watch overall. Swank has as always given a 100%. Gere as always is understated and yet charming. Everyone else has very little to do. I thought this was as good an attempt that Mira Nair has ever made. You can decide for yourself. 7 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2446393881/

The Resident

Cinema houses should actually start watching movies before they classify them under a specific genre. With a truck load of confidence they classified the Hilary Swank – Jeffrey Dean Morgan starrer The Resident as HORROR. 10 minutes into the movie, you are quite excited since the aura or mystery around the entire concept of the house is building up slowly but steadily. 20 minutes in and you are still rooted to the screen thanks to some great camera work and some brilliant use of sound as well as light by Finnish director Antti Jokinen who seems to be a great find – has done quite a good job for his first English movie (his previous works were some random science fiction pieces, short videos and TV documentaries all of them probably for TV Finland or something). 30 minutes into the movie, you start wondering when the alleged horror is about to start. Another 10 minutes and you are quite convinced that there is something missing out here and that there is no horror. 50 minutes in and you want to scream out, “Paisa Wapas”!!!! (I want my money back). At the end of the hour you are quite certain that this is not horror flick by a country mile. It is a random sex offender thriller which involves the so called villain watching the heroine through peep holes and one way mirrors and making out with her in the night when he has drugged her enough. What starts off quite promisingly completely loses steam mid way through and of course leaves you with a feeling of a wasted 2 hours.

Juliet Devereau (Hilary Swank) is a nurse at a local hospital. A complete workaholic, she finds her boyfriend Jack (Lee Pace) in bed with another woman – in THEIR bed!!!! Like most sensible women she walks out of the relationship (although you would be surprised at the number of women who are willing to accept their partners cheating on them) and starts her search for a new place to live in. But with her kind of budget in New York City, one can get a pigeon hole at best. So she goes from pigeon hole to pigeon hole till she finally finds a place which is ….. hello…. As good as a mansion – it is a bit away from the city and has the railroad running close by and some signal problems but for the price that is being asked it is a steal to say the least. It is owned by an extremely good looking young landlord, Max (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his grandfather August (Christopher Lee). The place has a very eerie feel to it but Juliet lets her desperation get the better of her and takes the place. Needless to say, there is a spark that builds into a fire between Juliet and Max. But will Jack be too thrilled about it?

As the risk of repeating myself – great start but doesn’t sustain the momentum. Antti could have done a much better job. Swank and Morgan come up with significantly below par performances. Disappointing overall. 5 on 10 at best. Actually missable.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi4101347865/