The Aviator Flies High

Rating: Null/10 (9 January 2005)

Billionaire Howard Hughes is the subject of an epic biography, The Aviator, and it is just big enough to encompass the early adult years of a reclusive, eccentric original who battles the doubters and his own inner demons. Spearheaded by Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays Hughes, this project started with Michael Mann (who remains a producer) and was ushered to realization by director Martin Scorsese.
The film wisely settles on Hughes' life particularly between 1927 and 1947. A brief opening scene shows Hughes as a boy being washed by his mother while preaching quarantine and cleanliness. Cut to Hughes in the late 1920's as a young man with a tool company in Texas who is trying to film a large scale war film, Hell's Angels. A perfectionist, Hughes is determined to capture great aerial scenes no matter the time and cost. He hires Noah Dietrich (John C. Reilly) to watch the company's finances as he begins to explore the limits of airplane design and travel. He discovers a young starlet, Jean Harlow, and begins romancing some of Hollywood's female glamour stars like Katharine Hepburn and Ava Gardner. Gradually, his compulsive disorders worsen and are complicated by his failed relationships and a couple of near fatal air disasters. His urge to fly and create bigger and faster planes puts him on a collision course with a competitor from Pan Am and ultimately the U.S. Congress.
While Howard Hughes' life has been the stuff of movie material for decades, this big budget film finally marshals the appropriate talent and resources to do it justice. Previously, 1964's The Carpetbaggers seemed inspired by Hughes' film career. In 1977, a TV movie called The Amazing Howard Hughes featuring Tommy Lee Jones did a good job of spanning his life. Even the fanciful comedy/drama Melvin and Howard played on a thread of Hughes' supposed encounter with a stranger. Yet it took the combined might of Miramax and Warner Brothers to give the story the needed blockbuster budget. And if having Scorsese direct a biography is like asking Picasso to do a Superman comic, then so be it. He does an admirable job of depicting intimate scenes and set pieces intermixed with period and story. It is a solid piece of storytelling by a master director working off a good script by John Logan (Gladiator).
What is compelling about Hughes is how reckless and human he was while at the same time becoming a sympathetic victim of his afflictions. As his ticks and behavior become increasingly obsessive, there is a genuine sense of inevitability as we watch the beginnings of his legendary, sanitized lifestyle to come. The scenes involving his clash with the U.S. Senate are like watching a newsreel come to life. It is fascinating stuff even as we are rooting for Hughes to prevail. In the end, Hughes is a slice of the American Dream crossed with the American Tragedy.
DiCaprio is quite good as the aviator and while those that remember the real Hughes may never have dreamed of young Leonardo playing this role, he has embodied the spirit and behavior quite convincingly; he gets the feel and angst of the man. In the latter half of the film, he looks like a dead ringer for Hughes right down to his arched eyebrow.
The rest of the supporting cast is strong. Cate Blanchett is excellent as Katharine Hepburn. She not only has Kate's appearance and vocal quality down, but she has made her a vivid, intelligent human whose relationship with Hughes is the focus for much of his life. This is no mere cardboard impersonation. Kate Beckinsale plays Ava Gardner and does credible job in a role which is also important in Hughes' later life. Alan Alda is a standout as an unscrupulous U.S. Senator who is a henchman for air exec, Alec Baldwin. Even the smaller parts are a hoot with such stars as Jude Law playing Errol Flynn and Gwen Stefani as Jean Harlow. Willem Dafoe (The Last Temptation of Christ) has a bit role of a tabloid writer.
As said before, the production is big and splashy. The set designs are top notch from nightclub recreations to air hangars to a congressional hearing room. Costume design (Sandy Powell-Gangs of New York) is like Edith Head reborn. The dramatic musical score (Howard Shore-The Lord of the Rings) is unobtrusive and well integrated in the story. Cinematography (Robert Richardson-Casino) and editing (Thelma Schoonmaker-Raging Bull) in a Scorsese film is always imaginative and unique without calling self attention. The air scenes whether in Hells Angels or the test flights are exhilarating and through live action and special effects, recall some of the exciting moments of The Right Stuff. What are just as impressive are the details in this larger than life production. For example, when Hughes emerges from a self imposed quarantine, his staffers are going about their work wearing white gloves. Film purists will enjoy the clips or references to other Hughes productions like Scarface (1932) and The Outlaw.
Ultimately, this ambitious tale is not only well told, but you get a true sense of the man, and that is no mean feat. Sure, the film is lengthy and drags a little in the second half as it probes his illness, but it isn't long before another scene picks up the plot, and the film moves to a grand scale again. It has been a good year in 2004 for movie biographies, and while The Aviator is the biggest of the bunch it is also one of the best.
***1/2 out of **** stars