Swank soars as flier Amelia Earhart

In The Aviator, Martin Scorsese mythologized Howard Hughes as a 20th-century Icarus who, scorched by the sun, plummeted to earth. In Amelia, director Mira Nair presents Amelia Earhart, legendary aviatrix, as a female Odysseus who navigates uncharted territory while a patient spouse knits his brow until she returns.

Though this traditional story about a defiantly nontraditional woman doesn't always soar, it fits Hilary Swank, its producer/star, like a jumpsuit. She and Nair thrill to the life of this American who broke records, hearts, and boundaries.

Earhart (1897-1937) first took to the skies in 1920 in a plane that didn't have a gas gauge, brakes, or rear wheels. While the story of her fearless Kansas youth and vagabonding teen years may have added another dimension to her character, the film - written by Ron Bass (Rain Man) and Anna Hamilton Phelan (Girl, Interrupted) - races past her first 30 years.

It begins in 1937, then flashes back to the pivotal year of 1928, when promoter and publishing magnate George Putnam (Richard Gere) auditioned the 30-year-old flier for the role of first female to fly the Atlantic.

Like an ingenue, Earhart got her break when Putnam, who knew the value of novelty when it came to selling books or cigarettes, essentially cast her as the first woman to cross the Atlantic by plane.

In 1928 she took a backseat to male copilots. But soon Earhart took the controls as the first woman to fly the Atlantic solo and first aviator to twice fly the transatlantic route. The public embraced her as it had Charles Lindberg. The media crowned the striking aviatrix "Lady Lindy."

Nair's biopic focuses on Earhart's momentous last decade, one of dizzying motion. Whether setting records in the air, hopping between cities on lecture tours that financed her exploits, or pursuing her heart's desire, she personified what was called the New Woman. Matter-of-factly the film presents Earhart as one who resisted gravity and society's expectations.

Swank's wide-set eyes, toothy smile, and slim-hipped stride lend her an extraordinary resemblance to the aviatrix of period newsreels.

But Swank is no mere impersonator. Her Amelia, like Maggie in Million Dollar Baby, is unwavering in her gaze, ambition, and drive. Swank streamlines Earhart into a figure who stands taller and flies higher than her confreres. In Nair's evocatively art-directed (and sensationally costumed) film, Earhart comes alive.