Bloated, devoid of human interest.

Rating: 3/10 (8 January 2005)

As demonstrated by the tedious "The Gangs of New York", Scorcese seems to be a spent force. Overwhelmed by large set pieces, we are left indifferent to Hughes' struggles. Scenes are left to play indulgently long, and, as well as endless captions telling us how much time has gone by, and where the scenes are taking place, characters are endlessly coming on and introducing themselves, and their relationships: "Yes, Howard, I am Ava Gardner, and if you want to know if I slept with Arty Shaw, and whether I am interested in Frank Sinatra - the answer is Yes" is a paraphrase of one of the more clunking bits of dialogue. Cate Blanchett merely mimics Katherine Hepburn's speech patterns and shouts a lot, while Jude Law wears a moustache, and keeps his eyes wide open, in an attempt to impersonate Clark Gable.
Hughes crashing an aircraft is an excuse for Scorcese to indulge his taste for making sure that any damage to a human body is as explicit and unpleasant to look at as ever.
Otherwise much effort has gone into recreating lavish evocations of period, and, interestingly, the overall effect is as unengaging as "The Cotton Club" was for Coppola. In the end if you don't have human interest in a script then you have nothing. Aviator is an expensive lesson for Scorcese, for Miramax, and, ultimately, for the audience that this remains a universal truth.