I love Amelia earhart just to start out. She was an amazing woman. Hilary Swank did a good job but the movie was a bit, I don't know, teetering between interesting and needing to be moved up a rating. Parts of it were good but many parts were not that great for younger kids and very sad. Seeing as what we all know happened to Amelia.

Amelia Earhart is one of the most fascinating, inspirational, courageous women of all time who significantly advanced opportunities for women through her adventurous, exhilarating life as an aviatrix. This is why you should NOT take your kids to see AMELIA.

AMELIA gives us the blandest version of her life, skipping over any moments that would give us insight to who Earhart was as a person. The movie would have you believe that she would have achieved nothing were it not for publisher/publicist/eventual husband George Putnam. In fact, Earhart had already broken records and glass ceilings by the time she met Putnam.

Earhart did much to advance aviation both as a career for women and as a viable mode of travel for the public. She also took (some) promotional endorsements seriously to make commercial luggage that was truly sturdy and women's fashion that was practical. We breeze by her efforts in these areas and are left with the impression her entire legacy was created out of selfishness.

In fact, AMELIA's trailblazer is portrayed as selfish in all ways. We are to conclude that Earhart's motivation for choices in her professional and personal life are simply to satisfy her personal need to achieve in flight. AMELIA diminishes this great, brave and intelligent pioneer's accomplishments by portraying Earhart as an opportunist who selectively slept her way to the top.

Material that may make parents uncomortable: pre- and extra- marital situations are implied but nothing too outrageous. Also, we see one of the characters smoking (it was 80 years ago) but not Earhart. A remark is made which suggests Earhart may have been a lesbian. Beyond all of that, the film is tonally slow and the voice over is poetic verse which is going to bore most kids.

AMELIA's source material is attributed to two books, however, the movie feels more like an abbreviated Encyclopedia listing. If you want your child to be inspired as millions were by Earhart, I recommend the Encyclopedia. For ages 10 and up.