Amelia Reviews Make Amelia First Casualty of Oscar Season

Amelia reviews weren't going to impact box office, but Amelia reviews are more important to the Oscar race. Amelia reviews all refer to the Amelia Earhart bio-pic as the first "Oscar-bait" film of the season, or at least the first to get wide release. And most of the Amelia reviews say that the quest for awards, and Hilary Swank's third Oscar, doesn't even get off the ground. In fact, Amelia is already the first casualty of the Oscar season, according to reviews.

Hilary Swank is the second actress this year to play legendary Amelia Earhart, after Amy Adams played her for comedy in Night at the Museum 2. Earhart gets her own bio-pic in this case, as Amelia follows the aviator through her career, her love life, and her mysterious final flight.

Every five years, Swank seems to win an Oscar, despite all the flops she makes in between. But the Amelia reviews don't give her a good shot to keep the trend alive this time. Swank isn't blamed for the failure of the film, however, as reviews are far harsher towards director Mira Nair and writers Ron Nass and Anna Hamilton Phelan.

The Amelia reviews all slam the film for being extremely conventional and routine, even by bio-pic Oscar bait standards. In fact, critics say that the movie actually makes Earhart's historic life and travels uninteresting and boring. Nair and the script are slammed for creating an all-too safe and bland film - which shouldn't be qualities in an Amelia Earhart movie.

Since Amelia opens in limited release against Saw 6, Paranormal Activity and Where the Wild Things are, it wasn't expected to make much money. But it needed reviews to be strong, so it could get Oscars and then get money. But each Amelia review kills the film's Oscar chances, and Swank's as well.

Rotten Tomatoes has only 17% positive Amelia reviews, which is the kiss of death for award hopes. The Rotten Tomatoes consensus sums it up by saying "Amelia takes the compelling raw materials of its subject's life and does little with them, conventionally ticking off Earhart's accomplishments without exploring the soul of the woman."

Every Oscar season has a few movies that completely tank, before even sniffing awards - and judging by Amelia reviews, this is the first tank job of the 2009 Oscar season. This leaves only a few films left among the projected Oscar contenders that haven't been seen yet. Over the next few months, the likes of Invictus, The Lovely Bones and Nine hope not to join Amelia at the bottom of the Oscar-bait barrel.

Sources

Rotten Tomatoes- "Amelia"

California Chronicle- "Weak Script and Lethargic Acting Ground Amelia"