Amelia Earhart Jungle Princess

C’MON, GET SCRAPPY Pellegrino breaks it down as Earhart.

At play’s end, a jungle-bungled Amelia Earhart (Nicole Pellegrino), having only just found a link back to her past life, dips into the darker sides of human nature by pulling a gun on a man she barely knows. It’s a dense moment: moving and gritty, but strangely comedic—a testament to director Hobgood’s ability to find humor in uncomfortable situations. If only getting there were nearly as much fun.

Like Lost, the island tale jumps back and forth in time: A team of explorers has been sent to a mysterious floater to track down Amelia Earhart’s crash site—a PR stunt by megaconglomerate Altamont Corporation that’s sure to fail. Two months later, the same office dwellers, removed from all normal contact (their head honcho plays long-distance chess via telephone, through his secretary), ponder what to do with Earhart when the team surprisingly succeeds, delivering the missing Tarzan-like pilot.

Asmus nicely draws parallels between the island’s savages and the suits who could care less about the little guy. But much of the script’s wit and flair is lost by the noncommittal actors. The expedition’s no-nonsense pilot attempts to take down the savages with interpretive dance…but with half the punch it deserves; the one-upsmanship banter among the three Altamont underlings is loose where it needs to be tight. And Calvin Schultz (Kevin Strangler), the team’s champion and Earhart’s love interest, plays like a louder version of Arrested Development’s George Michael. We only wish the end didn’t have to justify the means.