The film is beautifully shot and wonderfully acted. My problem with it is that the pacing is painfully slow, and the lack of storytelling focus makes me wonder exactly what story it was trying to tell. Clearly, it is not a complete biography of Howard Hughes' life because it does not cover his entire life. Of course, a biographical film does not have to cover the whole of someone's life, if it centers in on an interesting part of that life and tells the story of that aspect. But "The Aviator" does not stick to any one aspect of Hughes' life with a disciplined focus either.
"The Aviator" is a story about how an eccentric visionary threw caution to the wind, making the biggest movie in history at any price, and later making the biggest plane in history at any price, whatever anyone else said be damned. In the middle of this, it also spends a lot of time on Hughes' relationship with actress Katherine Hepburn. Others obviously disagree with my assessment of this, because Cate Blanchett won an Oscar for playing Hepburn, but to me the Hughes-Hepburn lovestory is a diversion from the most interesting part of the film, which is Hughes vs. The World. This diversion makes the total of the picture worse.
"The Aviator" only really takes off and becomes a captivating film well into its 140 minute runtime, when Hughes squares off with Senator Ralph Owen Brewster, played expertly by Alan Alda. The Senator, in the pocket of Hughes' airline rival, wants to pass a bill that will guarantee that his benefactors will be the only airline able to offer flights from the USA to Europe. Hughes and Brewster sparkle in front of a Senate Committee hearing, called by Brewster to investigate Hughes' airline operations. The way an otherwise mentally shattered Hughes pulls it all together to turn the hearing on its head and throw Brewster into the fire is excellent cinema. Leonardo DiCaprio is particularly stellar in these scenes, and he is fantastic overall.
"The Aviator" is an interesting character study of a mentally decaying genius. It is long and laborous in telling its unfocused story, but there is some very enjoyable stuff towards the end for those with the patience to make it the whole way through.
3/5 Stars
--Chris Kivlehan