Gorgeous but basically superficial look at Howard Hughes' life...

Rating: 8/10 (5 January 2005)

THE AVIATOR is a film as eccentric as Howard Hughes himself. It never really explains the germ phobia that possesses him since we are only given one brief scene of his mother bathing him as a boy and requiring him to spell the word "Q-u-a-r-a-n-t-i-n-e". This is supposed to explain his lifelong fear of germs--in effect, it's Martin Scorsese letting us in on the "Rosebud" behind his movie before the story even starts--a tribute to Orson Welles perhaps.
With that mystery out of the way, the film proceeds to tell, at length, about the most productive years in the producer's life, a span of twenty years during which he gave the world HELL'S ANGELS, SCARFACE and THE OUTLAW when he wasn't immersing himself in the mysteries of flight.
Like HELL'S ANGELS, the film is best when dealing with the aviation scenes, although all of the Hollywood period elements are done with style, taste and flair. Cate Blanchett, although not exactly a facsimile of Hepburn physically, plays Kate Hepburn with a marvelous sense of timing that catches the Hepburn mannerisms. Instead of dealing with Hughes' other affairs with actresses, Scorsese concentrates mainly on Hepburn with fairly good results. The scene where she takes Hughes home to meet her clan of kinfolk is hilariously staged.
The big test flying accident that did considerable damage to Hughes physically, is stunningly recreated for maximum effect. It certainly never damaged his spirit--and Leonardo DiCaprio plays Hughes with considerable enthusiasm as a man with strong convictions about his passion for aviation. He does a brilliant job despite the fact that he was not ideally cast to play Hughes. His fans will be proud of his work in this one.
Not so fortunate is Jude Law, who, mercifully, appears briefly as Errol Flynn. This is the first truly bad performance I've seen from Law, and a major casting error even though his screen time is limited. Gwen Stefani in no way resembles Jean Harlow facially--only the bleached blonde hairdo lends any credibility to her role. Kate Beckinsdale does a remarkably fine job as Ava Gardner--stunning to look at and giving plenty of gusto to her feisty role.
DiCaprio carries the film and does so with a superb, consistently on target performance. It's clearly his best work since TITANIC.
For a really insightful look at the man who was Howard Hughes you would have to look much further than this slick, extremely well made film that will no doubt please the average movie-goer.
He was a complex man--a billionaire whose conflicting traits made him a paradox--part playboy, part businessman, part inventor--and possessed by demons that eventually destroyed him. It's quite an interesting film but Scorsese never really captures what makes the man tick.