The Great American

Rating: 5/10 (26 February 2005)

Needless to say, with Martin Scorsese scribbling his name on this picture it's granted automatically a statute of epic proportions. However I have this feeling Scorsese has taken a wrong turn, a few years ago. I didn't really like "Gangs of New York", but "The Aviator" exceeded my worst expectations. Yeah, it's that bad.
There are a few undebatable points of critique. The first is the movie's length. There doesn't exist any cohesion between the material and the time it takes to present it, so, at some point, it all falls apart. And the reason for this implosion is that there is practically next to not tension in the movie. It's got no grip.
The second is Howard Hughes' persona in the film. Now, I don't know why, but I'd call it the Kane syndrome, people keep falling for demented creeps who appear to have a vision. It is not groundbreaking that people aren't perfect and it's not that exhilarating, nor dramatic to see a stuttering man getting stuck at this one phrase, repeating it over and over again. It does not penetrate, it blinds in. And the absolute down point of the film is, paradoxically, the only real scene where it shows some guts, at Hughes's hearing. Why? Because the things he says are so stupid. Don't interpret stupid as dumb. Consider it out of context and false, trying to dramatically impose a figure upon the viewer.
The third reason, and let's say last because three is a magic number, is Scorsese's total lack of inspiration. He is uninspired by insisting to keep Di Caprio as his lead, when Di Caprio can simply not captivate due to the Titanic syndrome. He is uninspired in his choice of "lirysm", because at some points the visuals don't match the music. Shortly put, he's bland.
It wouldn't be fair to omit the few intelligent moments of screen writing - rare, but nonetheless delightful given the monotony of this whole thing. Maybe Blanchett who actually seems to be an actor can gain some appraisal from me, but not much. I don't really enjoy her. That's it.
"The Aviator" is like the Hercule of Hughes' in some regards. It's just too damn big and ripped off to fly.