A gorgeously dressed corpse of a movie

Rating: Null/10 (29 March 2005)

So many people have already posted about the liberties this movie takes with Hughes' life that I won't waste time repeating them here. That said, I can always ignore a movie that plays fast and loose with history if there's an original point to be made. Unfortunately The Aviator doesn't have a point. After nearly three hours the film fails to demonstrate why we should ever have been interested in Hughes in the first place.
The Aviator's production values are indeed as lavish as the hype suggests and no one can deny Scorsese's ability to move his camera in ways that make every film-school wannabee go weak at the knees. But a slick way with a camera is meaningless if your central character is unengaging. Not only that but The Aviator's woes are compounded by a meandering narrative that lacks a unifying theme (poor Marty has never been at ease with mainstream narrative).
I also question the emphasis on Hughes' time in Hollywood given that those years occupied such a small proportion of Hughes' own life. In terms of the overall theme of the film it's not at all clear what point is being made as we watch Hughes make 'Hell's Angels' and romance Katie Hepburn. I have the horrible feeling that everyone involved felt that lavishly recreating the golden years of Hollywood, complete with some of its most famous names, would be a sure fire route to that coveted Best Picture statuette. For once I'm glad to see that the Academy was not so easily fooled.
Then there's the fatal miscasting of Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes. He's a good actor but in both looks and ability he's at least a decade too young for this role. Is there really any surprise that The Aviator crashed and burned at this year's Oscars? There shouldn't be. The Aviator's technical credentials are impeccable - it looks sumptuous and sounds great - but that elusive spark capable of bringing a character memorably to life, allied to a vision that knows how to take real life and shape it into a compelling dramatic unity, all of that is absent here. The Aviator is the kind of movie you find yourself forgetting as you watch it. Truly, a 'gorgeously dressed corpse of a movie.'