Made well, but the plot sucked

Rating: 8/10 (8 April 2005)

Martin Scorsese's The Aviator is a depiction of the life of Howard Hughes. Howard Hughes was a pilot, a billionaire, a businessman, and before anyone else, a "womanizer" and a victim of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). He cared very much about what he did, and demanded a good title, not the rich boy from Texas. Now, did this movie, with Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes, portray his life well? First we need to look at what Hughes' life was. In a sense, his problems started with his mother. In the beginning of the movie young Howard Hughes is being adamantly bathed by his mother, ensuing the OCD, and talking to him on how "he is not safe," ensuing paranoia.
This is normal for one of Scorsese's films, considering many of his main characters have problems and/or are trying to find their way in life. The director did portray the drama in Hughes life, putting special emphasis on the presses flashing light bulbs, screaming, stepping on light bulbs, etc. I, personally did not like how much emphasis they put on the drama. I think they made the film kind of confusing on what it was really about, which makes it hard to do things like this. When I walked into the theater I thought I was going to see an awesome film about planes, and movies, because that's what Howard Hughes is essentially known for, by most people, but it trailed from film, to aviation, to the drama in his life and women. I thought to much was focused on the women in his life such as Jean Harlow (Gwen Stefani), Katherine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett) Ava Gardner (Kate Beckinsale), and other teenage whores.
Leonardo DiCaprio did a good job, however, of transitioning through these. So I guess it made it less abrupt. He also did a good portrayal of Hughes in general, making his passion for what he did believable, and I was impressed by the determination he bought to life. He did an excellent job as Hughes, but personally I didn't think it was the best portrayal of a character, but that's my opinion.
Now, this is one of the best portrayals of a character that I have seen, Katherine Hepburn, played by Cate Blanchett. Just a few things that made it good, the looks, the fake laughs, the accent, the attitude, the words she used, it was brilliant. I would like her to win her Oscar Nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
This is one thing I like about directors like Martin Scorsese, Peter Weir, and others; they get really into there movies. They make sure they are down to the point historically correct, and they actually care about them, and in a sense they are the only people who produce it. For example, Scorsese recommended to Blanchett to watch Hepburn's first 15 movies to get everything down, so she did, and she also took cold showers, something Hepburn is known for, whether that helped her acting or not I don't know.
The movie portrays two decades of Hughes' life, and Scorsese must of wanted it all because he put it into a long, dragging 3 Hours (2 hrs. 46 minutes). What is interesting is it won the Oscar for best Film Editing, but they should of edited out about an hour, then I would understand.
Another thing I didn't like about The Aviator was that it kept switching plots. It's called The Aviator, so plane people go in there, rightfully expecting aviation, and aviation is 25 % of the movie, I went in there because I heard of his movies, another 25%, etc. I liked the movie, but I thought it was a good movie for people who have never heard of Howard Hughes, it sums in basic terms.
It had the lead in the 2005 Oscar Nominations, 11 total, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Leonardo DiCaprio and Best Supporting Actress, Cate Blanchett. However it went home with only five, Best Supporting Actress- Cate Blanchett, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design