The way of the future is here!

Rating: 10/10 (25 February 2008)

I don't know what drives Martin Scorsese to make biography pictures. Is it that he wanted to win an Academy Award before earning his first statute from The Departed? Is he really fascinated by these characters he's making about? To be honest, I don't know. But whenever I think of Martin Scorsese , I think about the techniques he uses in his movies from quick editing to fast-forward motion where I am just stunned to see how wild and brilliant Scorsese is.
"The Aviator" deals with the ups and downs of Howard Hughes (played wonderfully by Leonardo DiCaprio) where not only does he want to make airplanes using the money from his oil tycoon business, but manages to change history as well. He gets involved with movie stars such as Katherine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett as a marvel), Ava Gardner (the delicious Kate Beckensale), Jean Harlow (Gwen Stefani, making her film debut) and many other babes including a sixteen year old. While Howard is not only being a mesmerizing playboy and showing off his airplanes, he wants to make movies as well. He makes two of the most harrowing pictures of the early 1930's from "Hell's Angels" and the original "Scarface" where not only do people consider him a wacko because of the violence, but a genius at the same time.
Just like every popular celebrity in town, there are a couple of enemies that want to slander and rid Hughes of any business. There's Pan-Am flight manager Juan Trippe (Alec Baldwin) who wants to know the secrets to Howard's new airline plan TWA. Trippe has a sneak on board by Maine republican senator Owen Brewster (Alan Alda) who know the tricks in making Howard suffer.
Throughout the film we get to see Howard's personal problems, and I'm not talking about girl issues, I'm talking about the obsessive compulsive disorder where it's one of the main sides of his downfall leaving everybody to wonder and how he'll succeed if this little disease keeps up with him. He's afraid of germs; he washes his hands more than once; he shuts his mouth tight if he can't get his words right. What a horrible feeling that must be.
Other characters in the film include Noah Dietrich (the gifted John C. Reilly), who is an incompetent bag of hammers that is the fool to Hughes ' King Lear. Glenn Odekirk (Matt Ross) is Hughes' flight engineer who finds Howard's behavior a little strange. Professor Fitz (Ian Holm) is hired by the eccentric engineer to find out if the wind resistance is good or not.
"The Aviator" may not suit everybody's expectations, but Scorsese never fails on bringing energy just like his other films. I think what made Scorsese make this movie was the fact that he was a fan of the atmosphere of the glamor of the 1930's where most of the movies he watched became his inspiration for making films.
And somehow he gets to go back and make his dream come true in one of the most moving biopics I've ever seen.