Maybe the third time Kate Beckinsale and Josie Maran appear in the same movie will be the charm.

Rating: 5/10 (29 January 2005)

"The Aviator" may be directed by Martin Scorsese, written by John Logan (although I've never been a fan of "Gladiator" and I fell asleep watching "Star Trek: Nemesis"... fortunately he also wrote "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas"), produced by Michael Mann (among others) and performed by an acclaimed cast, but its real stars are all behind the camera. It's beautifully shot (by Robert Richardson) and designed (by Dante Ferreti), and edited almost too precisely by Thelma Schoonmaker, and the Sony Pictures Imageworks visual effects manage to make the flight scenes convincing (something that doesn't often happen when the subject is real planes). Howard Shore's sparingly spotted score is another plus.
All this effort, sadly, only results in a movie that's wonderful to watch but never really particularly... well... good. The movie shows us a Howard Hughes who's a hypochondriac, an obsessive and a lover of flight, but if you knew that going in it's not likely to expand your knowledge of him or make him seem like any more of a human being, and while Leonardo DiCaprio tries hard it's not until well into the movie before he comes across like Hughes and less like someone impersonating Hughes. But he's not as much of a drawback as Cate Blanchett (who's indescribably annoying as Katharine Hepburn), although Alan Alda does a much better job as his senatorial nemesis, and indeed it's decently acted overall.
This hollow core of the movie makes it a lot better as an exercise in appreciating technical expertise and impressive visuals than as something that makes you feel and enthrals you; it's got an epic length, but it's only compelling in fits and starts. You come out of it feeling you might be better off reading a good book about him instead, rather than WANTING to read more about him (there is a difference). "The Aviator" reminds you that Martin Scorsese, for all his impressive credentials, was a willing participant in "Shark Tale." But it's a vast improvement over "Van Helsing," the last time Kate Beckinsale (fine as Ava Gardner) and Josie Maran were in the same movie. Of course, most things would be.