Come Fly With Me in My Flying Machine.

Rating: Null/10 (3 February 2005)

The life of reclusive mega-billionaire Howard Hughes (dynamite role for Leonardo DiCaprio) from his innovative film-making in Hollywood in the late-1920s to the post-World War II era where he had to legitimize his role in military aircraft aviation and governmental spending. His relationships with movie starlets (Jean Harlow, played by Gwen Stefani, Katharine Hepburn, played by Cate Blanchett, and Ava Gardner, played by Kate Beckinsale) and confrontations with bigwigs Alec Baldwin (running Pan Am Airlines) and Alan Alda (the senator who ended up bringing Hughes in front of the Congressional Committee) are imperative focal points in this tale. All this and Hughes' never-ending bout with an obsessive-compulsive/germophobia disorder are the major keys in director Martin Scorsese's ode to a highly complicated man and old-time California glitz. Wonderful turns galore (also by cameo performers Ian Holm, John C. Reilly, Willem Dafoe and Jude Law) and screenwriter John Logan's intelligent take on the material combine with all the aforementioned attributes to create a truly stunning modern-day epic that stands tall with all of Scorsese's earlier credits. With movies like this, the sky is truly the limit to its greatness. 5 stars out of 5.