3 Hours does not an Oscar winner make

Rating: 7/10 (2 January 2005)

I went to see this film with great anticipation. I was looking forward to it for many reasons, not the least of which was to learn something about Howard Hughes that I didn't know. The film taught me nothing. That having been said, I was still enjoying the film through the first hour, staying with it through the second hour and completely losing it through the third hour. This was one of those films that less would be more. Three hour movies become extremely tedious to the average movie goer, the same as double headers did to baseball fans. This movie could easily have been cut by 40 minutes and would not have damaged it at all. I thought DiCaprio did a fairly decent job of playing Hughes all though others I have spoken with all felt he was a bad choice. I also thought that Cate Blanchett nailed Kathryn Hepburn, both in looks and in sound. John C. Reilly did his normally excellent performance as I have come to expect from him and Alex Baldwin was fine as Juan Trippe. One of the highlights of the movie were the special effects. I would recommend the film only if you know going in of it's length. I will say it again, 3 hours is too long for a movie.