Finally... Scorsese Back In Top Form!

Rating: 9/10 (2 January 2005)

THE AVIATOR (4+ outta 5 stars) Wow... did I just see the best movie of the year? I can't think of anything better... but then again I haven't seen even a fraction of the 2004 releases that I want to. Lately I don't see the point of going to see a movie in the theatre when the DVD release 6 months later is going to be an "extended director's cut" with tons of extras and deleted scenes, etc. Plus you don't have to put up with lousy projection, rude audiences and sticky floors (well, okay, me floor isn't always perfect either). However, one of the few directors that I will still go out of my way to see on the big screen is Martin Scorsese. Even though his last few movies have not really been his best ("Bringing Out The Dead", "Gangs of New York", "Casino")... even when his movies are merely *average* they are still better than most other directors at the top of their game. The movie's style starts off very low-key... almost like a plain old biopic that any competent director could have made... but, as the story progresses, more and more little Scorsese moments can be detected... and by the end you are totally swept up in complete movie magic. Leonardo DiCaprio is terrific as Howard Hughes. I really had my doubts when I first heard he was playing the role... and maybe he does seem a little too baby-faced early on... but by the end he has the role totally nailed. (One of my favorite movie accents, too... his voice comes out like a cross between Ron Howard and Jack Nicholson.) Cate Blanchett is almost guaranteed an Oscar nomination playing Katharine Hepburn. (You know, I was never aware that her and Hughes had that close a relationship.) Lots of other fine actors in bit parts: Alec Baldwin, Jude Law, Alan Alda, Brent Spiner, Kate Beckinsale and Gwen Stefani.