"The Aviator" was an excellent biopic. DiCaprio and Scorsese are Masters of their craft.

Rating: 9/10 (6 February 2005)

Leonardo DiCaprio could have been SpiderMan. He could have been Anakin Skywalker. But instead he chose to be Howard Hughes. I suspect because he enjoys a challenge. Now, after seeing the film, I believe he not only rose to the occasion, but encapsulated every facet of the complex mind of Hughes; the sad and tormented man who became a legend.
The movie opens on the set of Howard Hughes' first film "Hell's Angels" and continues to follow him into the mid-forties. We see his womanizing, his staggering aeronautical ingenuity, his debilitated mental state, and eventually his U.S. government hearings.
A biopic is always harder for an actor than a regular picture because they cannot make any part of the character up; they can't fill in the gaps with fiction because whoever they are portraying is or was real.
Yet DiCaprio pulls off the performance like he knew Hughes, his wild eyes and accent show a smart businessman and at the same time allow a glimpse at the compulsive personality underneath.
The performance shows unrelenting honesty and depth of character (which is at least partly due to the real Hughes) in the deft changes throughout the film. You are allowed to see all sides of the mogul.
For instance, you may see him joy flying with Katherine Hepburn, sliding jokes into the character's witty banter like a normal person, but conversely the airplane's steering wheel is covered in cellophane because "you'd be surprised what's on other peoples' hands." Cate Blanchett, Gwen Stefani, and Kate Beckinsale also provide wonderful performances as the era's starlets.
Martin Scorsese, who has never won an Oscar, is being adorned with a nomination for Best Direction. Hopefully, the Academy will sift through the other movie makers and focus on the great direction of this film.
The dogfight sequences in the filming of "Hell's Angels" are broad in scope and move swiftly, but still manage to focus on Hughes in the cockpit of the camera plane complete with his own roll of film. Scorsese also uses light to illuminate certain important images and detach the audience from others. Darkness becomes synonymous with Hughes' insanity. These techniques blend well with the feel of the twenties, being a time piece.
This movie depicts an American icon completely, relying on the real Howard Hughes' external image and internal conflict; and the actors' and the director's eye for both bluntness and subtlety. The combination is explosive, exciting, saddening, and inspirational. "The Aviator" soars high above the rest!