The Aviator
(Dvd Review)
By MovieCritic on 06-24-2008
The story of Howard Hughes (Leonard DiCaprio) provides a director with many audience options. Director Martin Scorcese chooses the Artisan and Rational approaches: The focus is on Hughes' aviation adventures, his prolonged power struggle with Pan Am's Juan Trippe (Alec Baldwin), and the battle of the wits with corrupt senator Owen Brewster (Alan Alda). The Idealist and Guardian angles – Hughes' relationship with his mother and psychological troubles he seems to have inherited from her -- take the back burner to action scenes, tactical machinations, and striking visual images exposing his precarious flights and mental breakdowns. A winner of multiple BAFTA, Golden Globes, and Academy awards, the film did not yield Scorcese the directorial Oscar that eluded him for so long.
Howard Hughes is a master business man who ultimately becomes one of the world's richest ever, an award-winning aviator, and a notorious playboy who dates some of the most beautiful and talented women of his era, rivaling Spencer Tracy for Katharine Hepburn's (Cate Blanchett) attention and Frank Sinatra for the favors of Ava Gardner (Kate Beckinsale). He arrives in Hollywood in the 1920s, using inherited wealth to finance films that push the censorship envelope. His aviation and engineering hobbies lead him to buy controlling shares of TWA and also to get U.S. government contracts to develop military planes, including the famous "Spruce Goose", which resembles a flying boat. Hughes is not really an insider in any of the worlds he manages to enter and ultimately conquer; he is, delicately put, an "eccentric." His problems go deeper than eccentricity, though; he has an obsessive-compulsive fear of germs that lead him to bizarre behavior such as keeping his urine in bottles lined up in his home. DiCaprio gives a believeable and nuanced performance, swinging as Hughes did from boyish joy in the cockpit to ruthless womanizing to verbally skewering a senator in a public hearing. Scorcese's virtuouso work is sometimes distracting. For example, beautiful images of instances of insanity provide a general idea of the story but the drama doesn't seem developed. In fact, Scorcese intended to evoke the Multicolor film process used by Hughes himself, creating an allusion for cinematography geeks that might be lost on those just seeking an engrossing biopic.
Verdict: Voluptuous cinematography overshadows a skeletal script. Acting performances and effects are the highlights.
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Posted by DavidMKeirsey on Jun 26, 2008
Aviator is a good example of a very bright Inventor Rational. In his latter years, Hughes mind failed because of pain killers and probably brain damage from the plane crash. Germ phobia is one way the Inventor Rational goes bonkers. DiCaprio and Blanchett were great in their roles. |
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Posted by unders on Jun 28, 2008
I've always heard and agreed that Hugh (the real-life one) is a very clearcut INTP. He is suppose to have been a very shy kid. And, even as an adult he had a very deep private life which seem to contributed more and more to his ocd as he isolated himself from society. He seemed to be the ultimate architect because of his uncanny ability to feel and design the perfect airplane shape without an engineering degree. While his P skills allowed him to venture out into films and other interest. Regardless, he appears more to me like an INTP who developed enough E skills to become a great entrepreneur and playboy. |
I loved "The Aviator" and winced as Hughes sunk deeper and deeper into insanity - and found myself wondering precisely what he had (advanced OCD?) and if it was genetic. The way the film skewered Hepburn's family was also delightful, and I've always loved Katharine Hepburn. The flying scenes were thrilling and the "we can do it" spirit, refreshing.