A fabulous film - Two hours and fifty minutes well spent!

Rating: 9/10 (6 December 2005)

The critics panned it, the audiences stayed away, the Academy didn't give it it's due - all in all "The Aviator" was a theater-goer's disappointment all around. So maybe I'm a sucker for a beautiful period-piece or maybe I just don't know a stinker when I see it, but I say that "The Aviator" was a superb film that I will watch again & again.
Scorsese has made some mediocre movies (Gangs of New York & New York, New York come to mind) but this isn't one of them. The casting was brilliant, the cinematography inspired (watch how certain scenes of different time-periods have a "vintage" cinematic look to them), the music fabulous and the acting spot-on. For those who thought DiCaprio was too "baby-faced" or too young to play Hughes, take a look at a few Hughes photographs from the 30's and you will see that he was not the more rugged looking fellow from after his near-fatal plane crash. The baby-face works here and lends even more to the realism that DiCaprio gives to his portrayal of HH.
I was captivated by Cate Blanchett's portrayal of Kate Hepburn as well as Kate Beckinsale's portrayal of Ava Gardner. Both actresses did a bang-up job of giving their characters a panache and fire that would have been necessary to match them against such a formidable lover and opponent as Hughes was to these two paramours. I was disappointed, however, that there was no mention made of Hughes' well known bisexuality and his alleged connection to the murder of rumored lover David Bacon (of The Masked Marvel serial movie fame). This could have been a great side story and I feel it was an opportunity missed by the screenwriters & the director.
All in all, this is a movie I will list in my personal top 20 and once I own the DVD will watch over & over just as I do Tombstone, Titanic, Malcolm X & Wyatt Earp. If you haven't seen it because of the negative comments here or those given by critics at it's release give "The Aviator" an opportunity to captivate you. If you've seen it but disliked it because it's not an "action-packed-thriller" watch it again and make note of the fabulous sets, the wonderful cinematography, the music and the dead-on portrayal of Hughes by Leonardo DiCaprio. And for heaven's sake if for nothing else watch it for the slick flying and aviation engineering history lesson.
This film is definitely a winner in my book!