Nicely filmed biopic and a tad disappointing. Where's the drama?

Rating: 4/10 (30 May 2009)

I wouldn't be at all surprised that in some of the more liberal US states it is a capital offence to criticise Martin Scorsese. I mean, surely if is one of God's truths that he makes fine movies and couldn't make a dud if he tried? Well, unfortunately for all its fine acting, high value production, soundtrack, atmosphere and, not least, special effects, with The Aviator Marty is, in this man's humble opinion, skating on rather thin ice. One of the many questions which presented themselves to me and which wouldn't go away was: what was the point of The Aviator? It isn't a drama, we already know the story of Howard Hughes's life, there are, apparently, no great revelations, it is not a left-field re-interpretation, in fact, at the end of the day it is simply just another, although extremely well-made biopic. So why was it made? More than that, it is also a tad confusing. Purporting to show Hughes' life between the early Thirties and the late Forties, it apparently takes some liberties with chronology. It also takes quite a few liberties with the facts: why, for example, the emphasis on Katherine Hepburn (with whom he lived) when by all accounts she was just one of several hundred of his sexual conquests? And why was not mention made of the fact that Hughes' bi-sexuality was also no secrets. He wasn't just seducing many of the starlets but also many of the stars. The Aviator also seems - and I must emphasise that word 'seems' - rather badly put together. No doubt Scorsese shot far more film than he needed and tried to shape his movie in the cutting room. Unfortunately, that means there are too many loose ends and quite a few mystifying cameos. Willem Dafoe appears briefly as, I think, a journalist, and is then never seen or alluded to again. Was his part bigger in the script, but cut later on? Who knows? Many other promising characters are introduced, never to appear again. There's Errol Flynn (having a fight), reputedly another of Hughes's sexual conquest, Spencer Tracy makes a brief, and very oblique appearance. There is something curiously two-dimensional about The Aviator, largely because it lacks any kind of drama and because the details of Hughes's life are already well-known. So why did Scorsese make this film. I don't know. Finally, Leonard Di Caprio plays a blinder, and in the later scenes bears an uncanny resemblance to the real Hughes. Unfortunately, this viewer could not once suspend disbelief: it was always Di Caprio up there on the screen acting well. Which is not really that good a thing. Two cheers for Scorsese's effort. Elsewhere this is called a masterpiece and a great American tragedy. No, it's not. Sorry. For that you'll have to look elsewhere.