'The Thin Man From Culver City'
THE AVIATOR

RATING: A-

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, John C. Reilly, Kate Beckinsale, Danny Huston, Alec Baldwin, Alan Alda, Ian Holm, Willem Dafoe and Jude Law. Music by Howard Shore, Director of Photography Robert Richardson, Production Designer Dante Feretti, Costumes by Sandy Powell, Edited by Thelma Schoonmaker, Produced by Sandy Climan, Charles Evans, Jr., Graham King, Michael Mann, Leonardo DiCaprio, Written by John Logan, Directed by Martin Scorsese.

Rated PG-13, Running Time 180 mins., 2.40 to 1 Anamorphic Scope Aspect Ratio.

Martin Scorsese's “The Aviator” soars above and beyond as a bio-pic and a fascinating character study of an enigmatic and legendary individual. A film based on the extraordinary life of Howard Hughes has been a long time coming and although movie heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio may not appear to be an ideal choice for the lead role, he defies all expectations in what is perhaps the greatest performance of his career. Re-teaming with his “Gangs of New York” director, DiCaprio brings us the story of this complex man who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and led a life that knew no limits.

Opening in the 1920's on the set of his flying epic “Hell's Angels”, DiCaprio portrays Hughes as a complete perfectionist who after a two year film shoot and a final budget of a record $2 million dollars,decided to re-shoot the entire picture for sound, doubling the budget. “Hell's Angels” failed to meet his expectations but Hughes persisted as a filmmaker, producing the well received, violent gangster pic “Scarface” and directing “The Outlaw”, a western that was controversial due to its well endowed star Jane Russell. The term "playboy" could no doubt have been created for Hughes since he was a sought after ladies man whose lovers included blonde bombshell Jean Harlow (Gwen Stefani), countless underage mistresses and screen siren Ava Gardner (Kate Beckinsale).

Perhaps the greatest woman of his life was the legendary Katherine Hepburn played to complete perfection by Cate Blanchett who becomes the perfect foil for DiCaprio. Blanchett captures the woman's essence right down to a science, from her mannerisms, body language and personality in a performance that's uncanny. It's no wonder that the intensely private Hughes found himself falling in love with her in a relationship that begins as a playful friendship and develops into one of trust, respect and intelligence. It's no more evident than in a wonderful scene where DiCaprio, obsessed with catching germs, finds himself barely hesitating to share a bottle of milk with Blanchett; a symbol of his decision to commit to a relationship. But Scorsese knows that there is more depth to this individual and in a scene transition of true artistry we're taken from one moment where DiCaprio's hand glides across the bare back of one love to another where his hand runs along the contours of perhaps his greatest love.

Hughes may have had an immense love of women, but his greatest love no doubt was aviation. From his youth he plunged himself into the study of aeronautics and much of his knowledge was self taught and gained through experience. Through the film's second act DiCaprio and Scorsese give us tremendous insight into this man's greatest obsession, so great that it put a strain on his love life and may have been the downfall of his relationship with every woman he knew. During this period of American history an obsession like Hughes' was equivalent to that of reaching for the stars. The millions upon millions of dollars he spent frustrated his accountant played by John C. Reilly and on top of that he purchased a controlling percentage of stock in TWA airlines. His technical expertise led to the development of the XF-11 spy plane in a contract with the U.S. military as well as the creation of the Hercules, the largest aircraft ever built that would be famously dubbed the "Spruce Goose".

“The Aviator” truly comes alive in an area of Hughes' history that I was always afraid the filmmakers would gloss over or forget: his obsessive compulsive disorder. In no show of disrespect to the legendary performances of actors who have played mentally challenged characters, I've always felt it is far more difficult for an actor to play an individual of high intelligence than a handicapped one. What's remarkable about Leonardo DiCaprio is that he effortlessly plays a man of incredible genius who struggles with a disorder that would be easily diagnosed today. He gets the best of both worlds as we're gradually shown how disturbed Hughes really was and how he dealt with his affliction. He's a man of the future who would be forever rooted in the past because he was unable to move beyond what ailed him: a condition that's commonly treated today. We see his obsession with germs (Scorsese opens and closes the film with an adolescent Hughes being bathed by his cholera obsessed mother), his fear of contact with individuals as well as being locked in a cycle of repetition. I had to hoot at a scene where DiCaprio waits several minutes inside of a Men’s room for someone to enter out of fear of touching the doorknob not because it was funny but because I’ve actually found myself doing that.

Hughes was insistent on trying out his experimental aircraft himself and the test flight of the XF-11 spy plane resulted in a crash that disfigured him and burned most of his body. The pain and discomfort that would haunt him for the rest of his life was treatable with medication but the side effect was that it aggravated his condition, eventually leading to his infamous seclusion in hotel rooms. Scorsese demonstrates this in an incredible sequence in which DiCaprio secludes himself in a hotel room that subletly increases in length as time passes. Dishelved, with long hair, dirty fingernails and wearing nothing but tissue boxes on his feet, we see this young actor as a broken man who is locked into a compulsive obsession. Even Hughes' detailed instructions for the presentation of his food is re-created as he's locked away in this room watching clips of movies over and over and over. A practice that I'm sure Scorsese himself is familiar with. Scorsese even finds visual poetry in this scene by showing DiCaprio line up a endless row of milk bottles he's filled with urine.

The arc of this incredible man continues as DiCaprio transforms himself into the Hughes of a moment from his life endlessly publicized. Hughes' purchase of TWA caused much friction between he and Juan Trippe, head of Pan Am airlines who feared that international competition was too great a threat. For a smarmy and false friendly individual Alec Baldwin is perfectly cast and gets to use this PG-13 rated film's one time allowed use of the f-word at an appropriate moment. With Senator Ralph Owen Brewster (Alan Alda) in his pocket Trippe plotted to have Hughes brought before the United States Senate on charges that he accepted millions of dollars to develop aircraft that were never used. Hughes' obsession with perfection delayed the production of his fleet for the military and before he knew it the war was over, but it didn't stop him from realizing that Pan Am was out to shut him down and destroy him. It is the third act of this film in which DiCaprio soars to incredible heights as he and Alda re-create the famous senate hearings in which Hughes turned the tables on Brewster and his cronies in their witchhunt. We don't realize it or even see it but DiCaprio has all but disappeared and the actual Hughes has taken his place. If you've seen the legendary footage from these proceedings you'll agree that DiCaprio's performance isn't a perfromance at all, but rather a possession by a man long since gone.

Martin Scorsese is one of the few filmmakers who can easily place his audience into the mind-set of an individual. From Jake LaMotta to Henry Hill to the Dali Lama to Jesus Christ, he's given us an inside look into the incredible lives of some fascinating people. In a Scorsese bio-pic we're presented with two realties: the real world and the world of the main character. The Howard Hughes of Scorsese's “The Aviator” is a conflicted individual, but with Scorsese's skill and DiCaprio's incredible performance we're given great insight into the genius of this man. Besides the tremendous performances of DiCaprio and Blanchett, there's some memorable supportive work by Reilly, Baldwin, Alda and Danny Huston as well as cameos from Edward Herrmann, Brent Spiner, Frances Conroy as Hepburn's WASPy mother, Willem Dafoe as a tabloid editor with some scandalous Hepburn and Tracy pics and Ian Holm as a meteorologist that Hughes hires to find background clouds for the “Hell's Angels” shoot. Kate Beckinsale is never good with accents and her role as Ava Gardner falls a bit flat. The cameo by Jude Law as Errol Flynn is a bit over-the-top, but then again so was Flynn. At least his screentime doesn't wear out its welcome and is short since he's in 100 other movies this year.

With the help of production designer Dante Feretti, we're plunged into legendary times we've only seen in newsreels and newspaper photos. Robert Richardson doesn't attempt to make the period look entirely accurate but his technique of gradually altering the color palette to suggest the passage of time is brilliant. Once again Scorsese teams with his longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker who condenses so much information as well as “After Hours” and “Gangs of New York” composer Howard Shore. Shore is perhaps best known for his work with David Cronenberg and the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and what's impressive is how much of his score the film lacks. Too much music can ruin a picture and Shore knows that the performances and the story are so good that by being minimal he can effectively use his music to enhance scenes such as the visually stunning flying sequences. Digital effects are very rare for a Scorsese picture and the visual shots for the flying and crash sequences are incredible. Despite their realism Scorsese is smart enough to use Shore's score as well as Bach's “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor”, one of the most brilliant uses of a classical piece I've heard in a film this year.

“The Aviator” is not without a few problems, the running time of the film is close to three hours and it takes a while for the story finds its groove; things don't start to get interesting into we're well into the first act. It's the performance by DiCaprio that truly captivates along with his collaboration with Scorsese in bringing us the story of one of history's truly fascinating individuals. Scorsese has finally made a real old fashioned epic with Hollywood's money and it succeeds because its more than just great costumes, great sets and good looking people. Its a very absorbing character study from perhaps America's greatest living director.