Howard, Leo and Oscar

Rating: 7/10 (1 January 2005)

This biopic about an eccentric and influential mogul, Howard Hughes, was more artistic than historically accurate, even though the symbolism was so obvious, it took away from the artistic license. Was Scorsese trying to dumb it down for the general public? I thought I caught a glimpse of a bright, blue Ked's label on Howard's sneakers when he was dancing the Samba with Faith. Did Ked's exist 70 years ago? Was DiCaprio really the right match to play Hughes? I'll get to that later.
The over zealous portrayal of Kate Hepburn by Cate Blanchett was saccharin, i.e. sickly sweet. Cate almost pulled off the great face that Kate was famous for, but I thought she could have gone the extra mile and shed a few more pounds to look more the part. By Contrast, Kate Beckinsdale could have gained a few pounds to play bombshell Ava Garner, (Beckinsdale was all shell and no bomb).
Gwen Stephani, on the other hand, was the perfect face for the era which brings me to what I did like - the music, the costumes (minus the Ked's), the cinematography, the colours, the textures - visually it gets a thumbs up. If you like the 20's, 30's and 40's on film, GO SEE THIS MOVIE. If you're over 50, chances are you will really enjoy it.
I read other comments saying that DiCaprio's performance was infantile and that he didn't have enough talent for mature, deep roles. I disagree. He did a good acting job in "The Aviator" because he went beyond himself, especially in the scene where Hughes cages himself inside his personal cinema. Although his accent was inconsistent, a personal pet peeve, DiCaprio's ability to play a character with penetrating quirks was reminiscent of Academy Award winner Jack Nicholson in "As Good As It Gets", Russell Crowe in "A Beautiful Mind" and even himself in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape". His acting was better than Robert Downey Jr. in "Chaplin", to make a comparison. Leo was on screen so much, all but about two scenes, it won't be surprising if he's matched up with another mogul - Oscar.