needs more balance but still excellent

Rating: 9/10 (29 December 2004)

I remember a lot of the press about the very eccentric Howard Hughes and also read a biography on him after he died.
the film I think somewhat overemphasized his obsessive compulsive disorder and could have done more about his accomplishments. he was for example a pioneer in pushing for fuselage flush rivets which added immensely to airspeed for any plane.
all the actors and actresses handled their roles very well Cate Blanchett although she does not resemble Hepburn in appearance she nailed down the unique voice right to a T. Kate Beckinsale who is proving to be very busy is even more beautiful than the original Ava Gardner.
Decaprio is excellent as the movie mogul aviation real estate billionaire. no doubt he has indispensable insight into Hollywood intrigue.
the film is about 3 hours and ends rather abruptly. then again, it only shows Hughes until just after the 1947 hearings. I am curious as to whether the filmmakers used transcripts from those hearings. I wouldn't be surprised; a lot of people underestimated Howard Hughes.
20th century aviation owes a great deal to the adventurous spirit of Howard Hughes. perhaps we would have had even more rapid advance had he not been periodically put out of commission by ocd (feel free to do a google search on the topic). it was unfortunate for Mr Hughes that he was born too soon to take advantage of a spectrum of serotonin uptake inhibitors that would certainly greatly alleviated his suffering. I know what I'm talking about, I've had the condition since 1973 but it is nowhere remotely as bad as it used to be. I therefore truly sympathize with Howard Hughes; it is only fair that he made billions of dollars considering what he did for civil aviation and a plethora of other engineering fields.
see the movie for insight into his life.
I find it ironic that a man who had a great deal to do with the advancement of airplane designed passed away in one while it was in flight to the hospital in his home state of Texas.