Scorsese may get overdue Oscar
If your image of Howard Hughes is tainted by the memory of the aged, longhaired weirdo, hiding from germs in a Las Vegas hotel, Martin Scorsese offers up a fascinating reminder that Hughes achieved far more than eccentricity.
To be sure, even the young Hughes (well played by Leonardo DiCaprio) was a strange fellow, eating only steak and peas at every meal, and washing his hands compulsively to avoid infections. But before the famous neuroses destroyed his public life, Hughes made history on at least two fronts – in the air and in Hollywood.
After the briefest of childhood sequences, “The Aviator” leaps directly into the late 1920s. Hughes at 21 is confidently ordering his large crew and cast on the desert landing strip location for “Hell’s Angels,” an epic film about the beginning days of air war in World War I.
The wealthy son of a Texan, Hughes has decided to parlay his millions into efforts to become an independent filmmaker. But he’s no mere dilettante; when Hollywood develops sound as he finishes “Hell’s Angels” (1930) he scraps much of his multimillion-dollar film to remake it as a sound picture.
Hughes is even more fascinated with flying, and “The Aviator” tells the stories of several experimental aircrafts designed and tested by Hughes. Along the way, Hughes romances several of Hollywood’s most famous beauties. Katharine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett) and Ava Gardner (Kate Beckinsale) are particularly prominent.
Far from the recluse of his later years, this Hughes is constantly on the go – at the Hollywood studio, at his airfield, or the legendary nightclub Coconut Grove. Though now 30, DiCaprio still exudes youthfulness, but the quality is perfect for the young and energetic Hughes. And he uses a nicely maturing talent (and good, subtle makeup) to create a believable older Hughes in the later segments.
Scorsese tells Hughes’ story with energy and brilliant imagery. He remains the greatest living filmmaker to have never won an Oscar. This lavish and wonderfully entertaining epic may finally put the gold statuette in his hands.