Sometimes Mr Scorses is just too in awe of other 'name' directors. A homage to Citizen Kane.

Rating: 6/10 (9 June 2005)

I was a little disappointed by this very long film, although Mr Scorsese's more recent work isn't great.
Firstly I think Leo Dicaprio is miscast, terribly miscast as HH. He (HH) was well-known to be a tall dark-haired man and DiCaprios makes no effort to shed his 'boy band' looks here, which makes the film unbelievable from the start. DiCaprio is generally unconvincing and out of his depth here.
Some of the other casting is questionable, it takes a while to get used to Cate Blanchett doing Kate Hepburn, it's too hard to forget it's Cate Blanchett, but she does well enough in the role, after a while...it can easily descend into 'camp' this type of role, so it's a relief that she manages to avoid that. Generally the best dialogue is between these two characters.
I think Scorcese was too in awe and too conscious of "Citizen Kane" in making this film and it often seems like a weaker version or a homage to that picture.
The actually building of an aviation empire is interesting, as is the 'war' between rival moguls and their tame politicians but this is also the stuff that makes it a Citizen Kane clone-pic.
I think HH was a phenomenally interesting subject and the film doesn't do him justice.
It's just an 'ok' film.