The Aviator is the latest picture from Martin Scorsese,
who was last seen hawking that ham-fisted film, Gangs
of New York. That film was a train wreck of epic
proportions, poorly plotted and miscast. Only Daniel Day
Lewis, in one of the most iconic performances in the history
of film, kept the piece afloat. With The Aviator,
Scorsese tries out the big leagues again, a large budget
period film starring DiCaprio. This time the subject
of the film is Howard Hughes—larger than life industrialist,
film dabbler, spendthrift, and yes, aviator.
Scorsese’s
film is a deep study of the era. It looks so much
like the 1930’s and 40’s that one is reminded that these
decades really weren’t so far away, that the people of that
era were driven by many of the same desires, quests and
insanities as modern people. Hughes himself passes
in and out of this film. DiCaprio is at once truly
amazing as Hughes and terribly miscast. His is a heroic
work to humanize Hughes, a man who wasn’t necessarily likable
or really admirable, pushing himself to the limits of his
skill to capture the man and his essence. He is betrayed
by his face, though; his nearly perfect beauty undermining
the man that Hughes always was, no matter how young he started.
|
 |
| Leonardo
DiCaprio and Cate Blanchett as Howard Hughes and Katherine
Hepburn in The Aviator. |
The
story is neat and well sequenced. The absolute home
run sequences are those involving Cate Blanchett as Katherine
Hepburn. She is utterly alive and beguiling, a cocktail
of quirkiness and intellectual fervor that had Hughes swooning,
and we believe it. Blanchett does more than some imitation
of Hepburn’s fluttering accent—it’s a tour de force
performance in which she inhabits Hepburn and the film finds
its center.
Don't
get me wrong, the film is far from flawless. There
is an underdeveloped sequence involving a young actress
with whom Hughes flirts, nor is his relationship with Ava
Gardner (flimsily played by Kate Beckinsale) centered or
even given the proper ignition. (On a side note, Beckinsale
must be asked to stop acting, or at least trying to act,
as she is dreadful here as usual.) The flying, though,
is beautiful, and the effects are terrific. Hughes
crash of his spy plane is so well realized it is harrowing,
and it flashes the mind’s eye back to 9/11. Hughes
flying with Hepburn is both romantic and transporting.
One
issue I have with the storyline is that the portrait of
Hughes mental illness is sketchy and unfounded. Why
does Hughes develop this OCD? How does he hide it?
There is a masterful performance of will over the disease,
as DiCaprio overcomes his disorder to defeat a smarmy Senator
(played with guileless glee by Alan Alda) in a test of his
sanity. Hughes later wilts, retiring to his screening
room and falling off the deep end. Until, in the most
Hollywood of sequences, he cleans himself up to go to the
Senate committee hearing room for the final showdown with
Alda. This comes off forced, but it is still highly
entertaining.
Much
of the film is fatty, over thick in some places, underdeveloped
in others (stunning that this could happen in a film of
nearly three hours), but it is delightful. Scorsese
has hit the perfect tone for popular entertainment that
is still serious filmmaking. His talents for moving
cameras and composing shots are to this day unsurpassed.
His designs in sets, props, and costuming are perfect.
The film is well shot, the color and use of transitions
absolutely first rate. DiCaprio is truly terrific,
if a bit undermined by his physical beauty and more so his
man-child appearance. At thirty, he still hasn’t outrun
that pretty mug. Blanchett is amazing as always, Alda
is precise and crafty, Alec Baldwin as Juan Trippe, head
of Pan Am is oily and honest, growing as an actor the older
he becomes, finally taking advantage of his genuine talent.
In
the end, this movie is about Scorsese and the welcome return
of a master to the local Cineplex. It is well worth
seeing, one of the few good films of 2004.
And
on that note, seeing as how Steve did his Top Ten Films
for 2004, here are mine:
The
Incredibles
Sideways
A Very Long Engagement
Collateral
The Aviator
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
House of Flying Daggers
Spider-Man 2
Vera Drake
Million Dollar Baby
Dileep
can be reached at dileep@babblog.com. |
