AVIATOR, THE
Released: December 25, 2004
Martin Scorsese follows up his massive "Gangs Of New York" project with an even more ambitious movie - about the early years of legendary director and aviator Howard Hughes' career. Leonardo DiCaprio *is* the aviator Hughes and he handles the role with conviction. The women in his life are played with equal compelling flare - playing Katharine Hepburn is Cate Blanchett and playing Ava Gardner is Kate Beckinsale. The film captures Hughes' descent into madness and offers no apologies about its less than flattering portryal. Scorsese deliberately finishes the film without going into Hughes's latter period but does offer an insight into someone whose vision was so intense and grand. But, the movie picks a very short period of the man's life and kind of ends without a satisfying conclusion or resolution. I would have liked to see more of his later life, where he shunned all public life as a recluse. Overall, it was fun to watch, and the aviation scenes themselves are beautifully shot. The rest of the cast is impressive: John C. Reilly, Alec Baldwin, Alan Alda, Ian Holm, Gwen Stefani, Jude Law, Brent Spiner, Amy Sloan and Rufus Wainwright.
120 Minutes
Warner Bros./Miramax