hype was exaggerated, not wining the Oscar justified

Rating: 8/10 (12 June 2005)

This was supposed to be one of the greatest film of the year, and a plethora of Oscar nominations gave hope that Scorsese will make it this time. He did not, and he did not deserve it.
Not that this is a bad movie. Scorsese knows to tell a story, and as a docu-drama 'Aviator' is one of the best. The problem is that the film tries to be a lot more including to meet the challenge of 'Citizen Kane' - much inspired of the same character. It fails exactly where a film like 'Beatiful Mind' succeeded - in explaining the mix of genius and paranoia, of vision and eccentricity, of the business leader and frivolous entertainer of movie stars. The scene in the character childhood trying to explain the obsession of a whole life is simplistic and lacks not logic, but artistic truth.
Worst is the mis-casting of Leonardo di Caprio. I confess that I am no fan of his, and I believe that after sinking 'Titanic' he now crashes 'Aviator'. He cannot track the aging of the character, and he is far of the complexity of Crowe in 'Beautfiul Mind'. As a compensation we have Cate Blanchett, shining as ever in Hepburn's role.
Not that it's a bad film. It tells a lot about the period, about aviation and cinema, about the conflict between the South and the North in the American mentality. But is is far from any psychological depth, and does not raise to the level of expectations and of the hype.