a waste of gunpowder and sky....

Rating: 4/10 (31 July 2005)

Maybe Scorsese should have gone for a biopic of Jean Harlow, as this has all her shallow glitter, glamour and artifice but lacks any emotional depth or substance. Might also have persuaded him to hire someone more convincing than Gwen Stefani for the role too, but I digress. Plus points: looks great, though often in a curiously indulgent way (blowing the effects budget on Hughes near-fatal crash for example). Some fine performances, notably Cate Blanchett doing a star turn as Katherine Hepburn, the only impersonation which really convinces (Kate Beckinsale manages to look like neither Ava Gardner nor Kate Beckinsale). Leonardo DiCaprio acts his socks off but to no avail - it's that chubby kid again, pretending to be Howard Hughes this time. Disbelief never suspended, but it's a casting fault, not his. Big negatives: it's so damn boring. It seems to go on for ever. It's very old fashioned, being more concerned with chronology and events than really putting work into the connecting themes. Had Scorsese had concentrated on one relationship - maybe the Hughes/ Hepburn thing, which had some really fine, delicate moments - and built a smaller film around that - maybe with a grown-up playing Hughes - it could have been way better, but I guess he's not that kind of director. I kept thinking of that Jonathan Demme movie, 'Howard and Melvin', where Jason Robards' Hughes is only on screen for a few moments yet resonates through the film (and continues to do so afterwards) in a way that diCaprio never does here. To quote Aimee Mann, and like Hughes own colossally expensive yet largely forgotten 'Hell's Angels', what a waste of gunpowder and sky....