A worthy attempt

Rating: 8/10 (8 March 2005)

This larger than life Biopic of the legendary Film Producer and Aviation Pioneer Howard Hughes is well intentioned and carefully directed by Martin Scorsese, but finally leaves one somewhat unsatisfied. It's the over long running time, and Leo DiCaprio playing Hughes. His enthusiasm for the subject, and strenuous effort at creating the character often dominates the screen, however his youthful looks are at odds with, and he lacks the statue for, the portrayal of such a notable, complex, and commanding figure and his decent into dementia. Hughes is regarded in America as some sort of hero for his spectacular failures as much as his achievements, then his weird reclusive life in the last years. He inherited a fortune from his father, and the fear of germs from his mother. At first looking as much like a baby faced James Cagney as Howard Hughes, DiCaprio is at his best in the later scenes, when makeup has given him some gravitas, and his handling of the dramatic mental decline. It is however the supporting actors that give the film most impact, notably Cate Blancett as a very convincing Kathleen Hepburn, Alan Alda as the aggressive Senator, and Alex Baldwin as CEO of Pan Am.
The flying and cabaret sequences are well executed, the feeling for period effective. The film has a striking over the top pictorial quality as we might expect from a veteran like Scorsese, who as usual turns in a well crafted picture. Certainly worth a visit as it lifts a curtain on some of the more oddball aspects of the elusive Mr. Hughes and indeed Miss Hepburn.