The Aviator - best Scorsese since Casino (which I have seen over 50 times)

Rating: 9/10 (18 January 2005)

Before you read the rest of the review please note that I thought that Di Caprio was a poor actor before seeing this film and that he was made to look totally inept opposite Daniel Day Lewis in Gangs of New York which dragged the film down as a whole -
I have to say it certainly is a career best for Di Caprio. It was quite refreshing to see him not doing a heartthrob role or the hard man (as I don't think he's convincing) as in Gangs but simply a really juicy character with plenty of eccentricity to work with.
A highlight was the Senate hearing, where clearly the scene is designed as a platform for the Hughes character to show his natural intellect and the brashness of his ambition juxtaposed to the inevitability of his slide into madness and he delivered the performance with just the right weight so that it wasn't over-acted but he could still display the characters' commanding force.
As for the work as a whole it was superb, Scorsese's best work since Casino a portrayal of a quite fascinating character who's main adversary to achieving everything he wanted was himself (a similar avenue explored with Scorsese's portrayal of Jake La Motta in Raging Bull). All of the set-piece scenes were sumptuous and impeccably shot, the soundtrack as with all Scorsese films seems as if it was tailored exactly to fit. The supporting cast were very good and indeed Law's take on Errol Flynn was right on the money (would have liked to have seen a bit more of him in fact) and most of all, the flight scenes were genuinely exhilarating.
I see that DiCaprio won the Golden Globe the other night but that Scorsese lost out to Eastwood and I would expect there to be a 50:50 split at the bookies between Scorsese and Eastwood in the run up to the Oscars.