The story is unresolved. A mere 72 years have passed since a woman and a man went south in the Pacific. Dead are just about anyone and everyone who would have at least some semblance of what may have happened on that fateful July night in 1937. Rumors abound of how Amelia Earhart eventually took her final descent from the skies above — a debate raging about whether she was lost, crash-and-burned, or plotted her own disappearance to take on a new identity.

Amidst numerous far-fetched theories, concoctions and stories, one critically acclaimed filmmaker dared to dream a little dream of the world’s most famous female pilot, except Mira Nair’s biopic of Earhart may be in danger of attaching itself to an unbeknownst fate similar to the record-setting aviator.

In what was an ambitious project for the New York-based Indian director, Nair entered into uncharted territory when she crossed over from predominantly South Asian-themed films and into a subject matter that is probably nearer and dearer to more American hearts than any other group in the world.

Yet, her rendition of Amelia, while a goodhearted attempt, may ultimately be a film that either crash-and-burned, found itself lost, or searched for a new identity.

To Nair’s credit, she did not place Earhart in any false light. Quite the contrary, Amelia is about as accurate as any Hollywood-produced biopic can be. Unfortunately, where Nair falls short is in her failure to at least try to answer the very question that baffled aviation fans and casual observers alike: how did Earhart die?

Certainly, no one expected Nair to have an actual answer, but perhaps crafting her film around some rational explanation of Earhart’s unexplained death would have, at the very least, shored up the biopic and given Amelia an authentic edge that the Indian filmmaker is known for having in her films.

Alas, Amelia seems to be more of a resuscitation of fact than a substantive analysis of the life and times of one of America’s most celebrated heroes. At times, the film comes off as a cut-and-dry biographic report submitted by a college student in a bland history survey course.

With little insight on what actually happened on July 2, 1937, Nair had the charismatic Hilary Swank dubbed for the title role. Indeed, Swank’s depth and personality provide just enough magnetism and allure to bring Earhart to life, as the Oscar-winning actress turned even the simplest of speeches into motivational clinic. Everything Earhart stood for, Swank did justice with the delivery of her lines and mesmerizing attempt to stay as true to her namesake character as possible.

Adding to Swank’s solid performance is Richard Gere, who accurately portrays Earhart’s husband George Putnam as a loyal husband determined to shape his wife’s legacy and push her career into the upper echelons of the Earth’s stratosphere.

Not to mention the cinematography and score are first rate, with both working intricately together to take the moviegoers to a whole new, enchanting world – just like Earhart did when she blazed trails for women in the skies above.

Nonetheless, despite promising renditions by Swank and Gere, Amelia is about as entertaining and moving as an American history book. Sure it has all the bells and whistles of a time-line story, but any sense of controversy and personal stance is sacrificed for the sake of getting the facts straight.

In the process, the most glaring missing fact of Earhart’s life is also the biggest deficiency of Amelia. Along the way, Nair does manage to strike a chord with a few key groups, such as fashionista divas mesmerized with the pilot’s sense of style and feminists enamored by the aviator’s ground-breaking success.

Still, what this film possesses in terms of historical accuracy and strong acting performances, it lacks in providing any more insight than we already know about one of America’s most celebrated figures.

Ultimately, Amelia gets credit for not botching the Earhart legacy. However, with a qualitative director such as Nair at the helm, one can expect better than a biopic that tells a story no different from a Wikipedia entry. Perhaps that is a testament to how great a filmmaker Nair has established herself to be, as well as an indication that if anyone was capable of telling this story, it was the lady who brought us films such as The Namesake, Monsoon Wedding and Mississippi Masala.

With the production team’s decision to punt on answering the juiciest of questions surrounding Earhart’s life, Amelia is best watched at home on The History Channel instead of at the silver screen of your local movie theater. The film is just too much resuscitation of fact and too little in-depth storytelling of one of the most enigmatic chapters of American historical lore.

Now playing in select theaters throughout the United States, Amelia also stars Ewan McGregor and was written by Ronald Bass; the film is a Fox Searchlight Pictures release and opened on October 23rd.