The life story of Howard Hughes, an eccentric but incredibly talented and dedicated man.

Rating: 4/10 (24 November 2006)

Before I saw this movie I had never heard of Howard Hughes. I am now completely fascinated by the man. Unfortunately, the movie itself was not particularly impressive.
Acting: DiCaprio's character was good and I think deeper and more developed than most roles he chooses (a certain Shakespearean movie comes to mind,) but a bit too reminiscent of Johnny Depp's Ed Wood for my personal tastes. However as I am strongly convinced that originality is much dead, so it didn't bother me too much. I thought Blanchett's character was brilliant in the beginning, but she dropped a lot of mannerisms she brought out of her character in one of her first scenes as the movie progressed, which was disappointing. Most of the other acting was passable if not well done. However (harsh, I know) TV actors with quasi-permanent roles should never switch to movies, because they have associated themselves with a certain person and their face no longer has the needed anonymity for any role. *coEdwardHerrmannugh*
Visually: Vastly disappointing. Some of the blame can be placed on actors who refuse to do the exact same performance and gestures in every take from every angle, but a good editor should be able to work around that. Also, there was way too much camera movement. There was an overkill of shots, oftentimes when it didn't even make sense for the camera to be moving. Artsy shots were overly abundant and oftentimes unnecessary. The Aviator was not written to be an artsy movie, and many interesting shots and camera movements drew attention to themselves rather than intensifying the action. Normally I'm all for trying to film in new ways, but it didn't fit.
Story: A very interesting story, but it's so chaotic (possibly the point) that it makes it almost impossible to follow. Many stories get dropped after their introduction only to be randomly alluded to later. Hughes life was chaotic, but I don't think is a good enough reason to try to make every aspect of the man's life into a main point in the film. All that we, as viewers, get from that is a series of confused, sudden snapshots of a man's life. None of which ever actually make complete sense.
I suggest: If there's a documentary out about the man, that would probably be a better route.