Well made but in some need of objective editing

Rating: 7/10 (14 June 2005)

This is a fine, well-drawn film overall and I recommend it. However it falls short of a masterpiece and the areas of supporting cast and editing appear to be the main problem.
The era and its style was evoked very well but despite having the dates appear on the screen I sometimes got confused about just where the story was. Some special effects were really excellent and some were just a bit pedestrian. For example, the spy plane crash sequence just didn't ring true but I can't say why.
Without question the main leads: DiCaprio and Blanchett, were brilliantly accurate in evoking the personalities and feeling of the very famous characters they portray. Blanchett is perhaps the greatest film actress on the screen today and in time will be spoken of with the same awe and reverence as Streep and Hepburn herself. I have to be honest and admit that I was pleasantly surprised by DiCaprio's portrayal. He could easily have damaged my immersion in the story with an off-key effort but it was spot-on and carefully underplayed Hughes' known peculiarities. These two actors made the movie a success.
Most of the supporting cast were well selected and did a fine job with only a couple of minor exceptions.
Alan Alda is as always a complete delight. We have all seen low-life politicians like Sen. Brewster and he captured the person well. Why can't we find a good role for Alda as the main star of a movie?
Ian Holm was competent in his usual highly underplayed style. I don't know if the character he portrays ever existed or if it is a composite but it seems Holm struggled to give flesh to a character which was very thinly written.
Beckinsale is less accurate in her portrayal of Ava Gardner and it felt like she 'phoned the role in' rather than inhabiting the character as the two main leads managed to achieve. I keep feeling that there is a good actress under the pretty facade and I would love to see here in a role which gives here an opportunity to act and not just be pretty.
Gwen Stefani. Why bother? She didn't look like Harlow, she didn't sound like Harlow. Mercifully her scenes were brief. Perhaps an exercise in good editing taste by Scorcese? Overall, the editing seems to be self-indulgent and the movie would benefit from a more objective cut. There are some excellent actors who would have done the roles of Gardner and Harlow better but these were mild deficiencies.