a mad genius

Rating: 9/10 (19 February 2005)

You really can't miss when doing a biography of Howard Hughes, certainly one of the most brilliant, glamorous, eccentric, and fascinating men who ever lived. And for me, Leonardo DiCaprio and Scorcese don't miss. DiCaprio's portrayal of Hughes is a revelation. (I'll digress here to say, for those who have accused him of being short, I've seen him in person - he's not short.) He does a fantastic job as Hughes. You can almost hear his inner dialogue. As for Scorcese, the movie is truly spectacular in its breadth.
I was disappointed in a couple of elements. One was, with the care Cate Blanchett gave to her portrayal of Hepburn, one would have hoped that a little attention had been paid to the casting of the other women in Hughes' life: Faith Domergue, Ava Gardner, Jean Harlow. Of the three, I liked Kate Beckinsale's Ava the best - but for me, Ava Gardner's beauty is unparalleled. Beckinsale really didn't approach it. And Stefani was wrong, wrong, wrong. How hard can it be to find a young actress (and Harlow was 19, not 35, when she appeared in Hell's Angel's), and slap a platinum wig and a white clinging gown on her? Harlow's look was very distinctive, and when it's off, it's distracting.
The other thing I was disappointed in - and I suppose this couldn't be helped in a way - was the telescoping of the years and some unnecessary inaccuracies. I don't pretend to be an expert on Hughes. I've seen one documentary on him which was fantastic, and now I want to read about him. But Katharine Hepburn talks about the press showing up at her brother's funeral - I don't know why that would have been, since she wasn't famous yet. I realize her family was prominent, but she made it sound as if it had to do with her fame. She also labels herself as Box Office Poison way too soon, and the movie skips the entire Philadelphia Story, including Hughes giving her the money to buy the rights. No mention of most of the controversy over "The Outlaw" which took several years to see a release.
But these are minor, nitpicky points. This is a big, gorgeous film, with exciting, lush scenes and some fantastic performances.