The Aviator

Reviewed by:
Paul Ulane

In chronicling the many achievements of entrepreneur Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio) from the '20s through the '40s, Martin Scorsese's The Aviator boasts the running time of an epic—but all the appeal of Gone With the Wind. Starting with the production of Hughes' outlandishly budgeted motion picture Hell's Angels (he spent over a million dollars!), the film flies over the tycoon's relationship with Katharine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett) before nosediving social-life-last into Hughes' love of airplanes. Be it spy planes or commercial airliners, Hughes poured millions into them, crashed them, and even sold a model or two in engaging flyboy moments that make the film. Scorsese affords us a bird's eye view of it all. DiCaprio's bossy Southern drawl is surprisingly effective, but certain tangents—flings with starlets (Kate Beckinsale as Eva Gardner), friendships with business partners (John C. Reilly as Noah Dietrich), strange quirks with phobias (germs as germs)—are all dropped right when they get interesting. What's left is an often incomplete portrait of a meticulous man that takes turns flying like a jumbo jet and stalling like airport security.