It's funny how literally all people who are geniuses, tycoons, true innovators all have their eccentricities.
How they can have so much brain power, but are lacking in another area. This was no exception for the great Howard Hughes in Martin Scorsese's biopic, The Aviator.
The story follows a young and wealthy man who is making a picture about airplanes named Howard Hughes. He needs more, more, more to make this picture come to fruition in his mind. The film is eventually finished, but he can't settle. He wants a reshoot. He wants the talking picture. This man made go big or go home a life motto.
As the film moves along, we transfer from this to his love and obsession with aviation. With his team, they create the fastest plane ever built at the time and they build TWA. But others are standing in his way.
Pan Am Airlines partners with a US Senator named Brewster in order to monopolize international air travel and knock TWA , Hughes airline company, out of the picture. They make a bill limiting Hughes airline expansion to overseas. He beats it, and pioneers airflight over seas anyway. However, this success didn't come without its failures. A test plane goes down in a Beverly Hills neighborhood, the war prevents him from building, money runs low, and his own habitual temperament prevents him from succeeding at times. Finally, at the end of the film, Hughes created the biggest plane to ever fly and more success comes his way than ever before. But he can't handle all of it. His troubles in the limelight and what I believe is tourettes, prevent him from being the true man in the limelight.
Scorsese does what most directors should do with this type of a film. Focus on the person behind what happened in history, delve into who they are and why they do what they do. We all know of people's great accomplishments, but we want to know why they tick the way they do. Scorsese keeps this in perspective during the film, showcasing Hughes malcontent for the spotlight and his constant drive to be the best, not matter what the cost.
The authenticity in this film is beautiful. The costumes, the news reel footage, the music, is all spot on for the time period from the 20s to the 40s. This attributes to the great story, and does not detract from it. Some filmmakers should figure that out. Visuals are great, but are merely an attribute of a great story.
DiCaprio gives an absolutely stellar performance, one of his best. He brings to life his dislike of the press and the spotlight and his eccentricities. There are multiple scenes where he is in the bathroom and brings his own soap, refusing to touch anything. If the amount of peas on his plate is changed, he can't eat it. DiCaprio brings these to light, along with Hughes' struggle into the insane later in the film. He makes these tendencies real and authentic, not merely an impression. It's a mesmerizing performance.
Cate Blanchett as well gives a spot on performance of Katherine Hepburn. The smile, the tone of her voice, everything. She truly deserved the Oscar that she won. Speaking of acting, how have neither DiCaprio or Blanchett won a Best Actor/Actress award? Beyond me.
Overall, this is another great Scorsese film, but it meanders a bit in the last half hour and could have been shorter. The story is well written, well told, and well done on almost all accounts. It's a history lesson movie, but one that the human condition tells, not the history books.
How they can have so much brain power, but are lacking in another area. This was no exception for the great Howard Hughes in Martin Scorsese's biopic, The Aviator.
The story follows a young and wealthy man who is making a picture about airplanes named Howard Hughes. He needs more, more, more to make this picture come to fruition in his mind. The film is eventually finished, but he can't settle. He wants a reshoot. He wants the talking picture. This man made go big or go home a life motto.As the film moves along, we transfer from this to his love and obsession with aviation. With his team, they create the fastest plane ever built at the time and they build TWA. But others are standing in his way.
Pan Am Airlines partners with a US Senator named Brewster in order to monopolize international air travel and knock TWA , Hughes airline company, out of the picture. They make a bill limiting Hughes airline expansion to overseas. He beats it, and pioneers airflight over seas anyway. However, this success didn't come without its failures. A test plane goes down in a Beverly Hills neighborhood, the war prevents him from building, money runs low, and his own habitual temperament prevents him from succeeding at times. Finally, at the end of the film, Hughes created the biggest plane to ever fly and more success comes his way than ever before. But he can't handle all of it. His troubles in the limelight and what I believe is tourettes, prevent him from being the true man in the limelight.
Scorsese does what most directors should do with this type of a film. Focus on the person behind what happened in history, delve into who they are and why they do what they do. We all know of people's great accomplishments, but we want to know why they tick the way they do. Scorsese keeps this in perspective during the film, showcasing Hughes malcontent for the spotlight and his constant drive to be the best, not matter what the cost.
The authenticity in this film is beautiful. The costumes, the news reel footage, the music, is all spot on for the time period from the 20s to the 40s. This attributes to the great story, and does not detract from it. Some filmmakers should figure that out. Visuals are great, but are merely an attribute of a great story.
DiCaprio gives an absolutely stellar performance, one of his best. He brings to life his dislike of the press and the spotlight and his eccentricities. There are multiple scenes where he is in the bathroom and brings his own soap, refusing to touch anything. If the amount of peas on his plate is changed, he can't eat it. DiCaprio brings these to light, along with Hughes' struggle into the insane later in the film. He makes these tendencies real and authentic, not merely an impression. It's a mesmerizing performance.
Cate Blanchett as well gives a spot on performance of Katherine Hepburn. The smile, the tone of her voice, everything. She truly deserved the Oscar that she won. Speaking of acting, how have neither DiCaprio or Blanchett won a Best Actor/Actress award? Beyond me.
Overall, this is another great Scorsese film, but it meanders a bit in the last half hour and could have been shorter. The story is well written, well told, and well done on almost all accounts. It's a history lesson movie, but one that the human condition tells, not the history books.
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