Best Movie About Someone Unimportant

Rating: 6/10 (5 July 2005)

If I wrote the tagline for this movie, it would read something like "The Best Movie This Year about Someone Insignificant!" You may argue that Howard Hughes was some sort of pioneer in the histories of both the movie and aviation, but I would reply that if Howard Hughes was not around to accomplish those things, someone else equally unimportant would have. I give credit that this movie accurately portrays Hughes as both a risk-taker and downright weirdo, was beautifully filmed, and very well acted. But I can't get past the fact that Howard Hughes was likely only well known because he was very wealthy, and a person whose quirks only make him an irritating nut who treated other people poorly, and recklessly threw millions of dollars away chasing white rabbits (or rather Spruce Gooses). From the movie, I didn't see that he was all that noble, not enough for us to sympathize with him and regard him as some sort of hero. This was certainly a very well-made film, deserving of accolades for its technical aspects, but ultimately whose subject really doesn't matter.