Disappointing

Rating: 4/10 (12 December 2005)

This film was distinctly disappointing. Not only was it considerably too long and slow, but Leonardo di Caprio was the wrong person to play Hughes - he lacked the gravitas of a serious industrialist, and looked far too boyish to play the part. He is too reminiscent of a pretty-boy Michael J Fox in his prime - unconvincing in anything other than a light-hearted, teenage movie.
Also, the flying scenes were poor - in fact the planes looked distinctly superimposed, not much more effective than the special effects of 20 years ago. In terms of the wow-factor of the flying scenes, it was leagues behind Top Gun, for example.
Finally, in terms of character development, it was weak. Hughes' development was inconsistent and he drifted from being savvy and charismatic to being compulsive and seemingly insane, with minimal transition. By comparison to 'A Beautiful Mind', for example, the development of the lead was unconvincing, and I was left neither moved nor bothered by his state. I saw this as a missed opportunity, because what would have been really fascinating about Hughes was that he teetered on the brink of brilliance and insanity, and it would have been interesting to see how the two states manifested themselves, instead of incoherently switching between the two.
This film was distinctly disappointing!