Brilliantly Directed, Shot, Acted and Made but so, so Long

Rating: 9/10 (5 February 2005)

And so Martin Scorsese remains Oscar less. The members of the academy did not have the large bladders and mind boggling attention spans that were certainly required to see this film. If it hadn't been for its length I would have gladly given the film 10 out of 10. It's brilliantly shot, designed with spectacular direction from Scorsese and brilliant performances from the entire cast, especially DiCaprio, Alda and Blanchett but by the end of the film I half expected Hughes to see off his fears of dirt and disease in a cesspit before finding some new and crazy fear before locking himself in a room, stripping off slowly, drinking copious amounts of milk, taping his room into different sections, being met by Kate Beckinsale, who tells him he needs to get some clothes on before his big court appearance (which comes about because he has been spending ridiculous amounts of public money on planes bigger than the Empire State building which float but haven't actually got into the air yet), and then he, Phoenix like, rises from the ashes of his insanity to challenge the corrupt system and triumph for American freedom against that bastard of a senator, who looks like an older version of that guy from M*A*S*H before managing to get that insanely large plane off the ground and if you are still following this sentence, you've probably got an idea of how long this film seems to be. For those of you who have been paralysed by the, now self-confessed, tedious previous sentence may I suggest you see this film but when he enters that room after the big plane crash, take a ten to twenty minute break because he just acts like a total madman and nothing much happens.