THE AVIATOR -- Martin Scorsese, dir

©2004
studio: Warner Home Video
production company: Warner Bros. Pictures, Miramax Films, Initial Entertainment Group (IEG), Forward Pass, Appian Way, Cappa Productions, IMF Internationale Medien und Film GmbH & Co. 3. Produktions KG
director: Martin Scorses
cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reilly, Alec Baldwin, Alan Alda, Ian Holme, Danny huston, Gwen Stafani, Jude Law, Adam Scott, Matt Ross, Kelli Garner, Frances Conroy, Brent Spiner
screenplay: John Logan

A biopic depicting the early years of legendary director and aviator Howard Hughes' career, from the late 1920s to the mid-1940s.

*****

This was an interesting film. I can only assume that much if it is based on historical research.

DiCaprio does a marvelous job as Hughes. My only exception to it would be that I never saw Hughes as a ladies man or lover. He had beautiful Hollywood starlets around, but I never got a sense that women appealed to him. This was emphasized even more considering the most detailed relationship in the movie was with katherine Hepburn, reputed to have lesbian tendencies.

Performances are all quite good as one would expect in a Scorsese movie. The film is too long (2 hr 44min) and there is plenty that could have been trimmed and still kept our interest.

My biggest problem with the film was continuity. This is one of those aspects of a film that you should never notice and when you do, it's hardly good. In more than one scene it bothered me to see someone standing a certain way, speaking or listening, and then have the film cut to another angle in which the person is standing/posing differently, and then back to the first angle again. See the obvious differences took me out of the film and had me thinking about the bad cut/continuity rather than the action of the film. Surprised to see this in a Scorsese film. I'm guessing that the person in charge of continuity was a relative...?

Mostly an okay film. Glad to have seen it. Good performances. Recommend it, but wouldn't watch it a second time, myself.