THE AVIATOR
Directed by Martin Scorsese
In theatres
(*****)
Subscribe to Hollywood North Magazine
Written By: John H. Foote
     At long last, director Martin Scorsese should finally win a long overdue Academy Award for best director.
  
Said to be the greatest living director, Scorsese has previously been nominated for Raging Bull (1980), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Goodfellas (1990) and Gangs of New York (2002) and should have been nominated for Taxi Driver (1976) and The Age of Innocence (1993), yet never stood on the stage clutching the coveted Oscar. It is a sad state of the industry when Robert Redford (Ordinary People; 1980), Kevin Costner (Dances with Wolves; 1990), James Cameron (Titanic; 1997), and Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind; 2001) have Oscars yet Scorsese does not. He has in fact twice lost the directing Oscar to actors making their directorial debuts, and while they made fine films, Scorsese’s work is for the ages.
  
The Aviator is his finest work since Goodfellas, and the year’s best film.
  
An energetic, compelling study of the early life of Howard Hughes, the film is magnificent on so many levels it is impossible to describe everything in the space I am limited. Concentrating on the key years and the young Hughes greatest accomplishments, the film explores his splash in Hollywood in the twenties and thirties, his obsession with flight and his tackling the aviation giants and the American government. Scorsese also explores the early obsessions that would eventually destroy the man’s life, his fear and genuine terror of germs, lint, cleanliness and food preparation. We know that eventually Hughes would live in a filthy hotel room, never bathing, his finger and toe nails curling long, his billions sitting in banks gathering massive amounts of interest while the man who made those billions rotted away from mental illness, a victim of his own madness.
  
Wealthy from family oil, Hughes lands in Hollywood and teaches himself to direct, becoming quite a ladies man in the process, dating such starlets as Jean Harlow, Katherine Hepburn and Ava Gardner before turning his attentions to aviation and his real loves, flight and speed.
 
  In a stunning performance that transcends everything he has previously done, Leonardo DiCaprio is a revelation as Hughes, capturing brilliantly the man’s charisma and charm, brash manner, and best of all, his mental collapses when confronted with his worst fears. We now know that Hughes suffered mental illness as well as obsessive compulsive disorders, but in this era, his staff did their best to keep these lapses from anyone who might use the information against the millionaire. DiCaprio is simply magnificent, living up to the promise he showed years ago as the greatest young actor of his generation; an Oscar nomination for best actor seems a given. Though he lacks Hughes rugged good looks, he makes up for it and slipping under the skin of the character and forcing the audience to accept him as Howard Hughes rather than DiCaprio. This is a major performance.
  
Cate Blanchett is equally good as Katherine Hepburn, for while she does not look like Hepburn she nails the voice and mannerisms of the intelligent actress who fell hard for Hughes over the objections of her snooty family. Blanchett does what great actors do when portraying a famous person, she captures the persona. Watch for her Oscar night in the category of best supporting actress.

   The rest of the cast are superb, among them Alan Alda, Alec Baldwin, John C. Reilly, Frances Conroy and Jude Law as Errol Flynn. One of the more interesting aspects of the film is watching who is going to pop up next in a supporting role or cameo.
  
The film buzzes along at a ferocious speed, which of course is what Hughes was really hooked on.
  
From an overly attentive bath at the beginning of the film, through to his days in Hollywood, to his survival of a near fatal plane crash, to his war with his own phobias, The Aviator brilliantly captures the life of a mysterious man on film.
  
Scorsese has done what Warren Beatty sought to do for years and could not, and done so with style and genius. Without question The Aviator is the years’ best film and should finally, after years of being ignored and snubbed land Scorsese that Oscar that everyone knows he should have won years ago, many times.

   A buzzing, brilliant masterpiece that I never wanted to end.










© Copyright 2004 Hollywood North Magazine Inc.