Being famous for flying is like being famous for driving a train; a big deal at the time, not quite such a big deal now. And just to make things even more difficult for the makers of Amelia, even at the time much of the thrill of Amelia Earhart’s achievements came from wondering if she was going to make it or not. Once you know that she did – right up until that last flight where she didn’t – her flights become about as exciting as a sporting event where you know the outcome in advance.

None of that is what makes Amelia a dry, plodding look at Amelia Earhart’s life but it doesn’t exactly help; it’s the film’s ruthless refusal to delve even slightly into the mind of its’ lead (played as well as possible by Hillary Swank) that gradually saps the life out of things.

At first it looks like we’re in for a fun romp through 1930’s huckerism, as publisher George Putnam (Richard Gere) sets up Amelia’s first Atlantic crossing as little more than a publicity stunt to sell books. She’s a passenger in the plane, it’s not even her plane, and the whole thing is basically an early exercise in girl power. But when the plane takes off so does Amelia’s career, making her into America’s sweetheart just as Putnam himself falls for her. Which turns out to be his bad luck, because while she will marry him she won’t promise to be faithful to him and quickly finds time between flights to start up an affair with Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor), father of Gore.

Surely this should be interesting stuff, right? Uh, no. Instead of following up on the fairly obvious theme that here was a woman who demanded to be given the same rights as a man in all aspects of her life, this tries as hard as it can to deliver a treacley love story where a girlish Amelia doesn’t really know what she wants and marriage conquers all. There is more to this film, including an odd go-nowhere subplot about Amelia’s female flying rivals and her constant complaints about being used to sell cigarettes and cameras, but as far as drama goes you’ll have to wait until the final few scenes (covering her final flight) to find your eyes staying open of their own accord.

The sad thing is that there’s a lot here that works: the performances are all strong, the film does a good job of covering Amelia’s life and adventures, and it even manages to get across some of the thrill of flying in those early, ramshackle contraptions. It just doesn’t manage to bring any of that to life; in the end the Amelia on screen here feels no closer to the real woman than the advertising images of her selling Chesterfield cigarettes.

Amelia opens in cinemas on November 12.
You can view the Amelia movie trailer here on TheVine.