The Aviator
dir. Scorsese
Opens Sat Dec 25
Various Theaters
Truthfully, seeing Oliver Stone’s Alexander is enough to make anyone boycott sweeping three-hour biopics for life–but before you make that rash decision, consider the case of Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator. Like Alexander, Scorsese’s three-hour biopic of the late eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes is the tale of a prickly visionary whose own obsessions brought about his downfall. But unlike Alexander, The Aviator is engrossing, self-assured, well acted, and not a big pile of crap.
While Leonardo DiCaprio is no slouch in the acting department, it becomes immediately apparent he has to pull out all the stops to equal the bigger-than-life eccentricities of Howard Hughes. The film starts with Hughes as a boy being bathed by an overprotective mother who warns/threatens her son with horrifying tales of polio and typhus. Unwittingly, she has planted the germs of a lifelong disease. While Hughes’ obsessive-compulsive behavior fuels the brilliance of his films (Hell’s Angels, The Outlaw), aeronautic business, and movie starlet liaisons, it also leads to batshit behavior–such as germ phobia, burning his wardrobe, and collecting his urine in milk bottles. It’s a tale of enormous successes and the worst of downfalls.
And herein lies the only problem with The Aviator, and biopics in general. Most people, heroes or no, rarely die heroically. On average they waste away of fairly boring means, as did Howard Hughes. So without a strong ending, and–for want of a better word–moral, the audience member is left feeling, “Huh. That poor guy. Sure glad my brain’s not screwed up!”
Nevertheless, look for The Aviator at Oscar time, because it deserves to be there. Scorsese proves once again he’s a master director, composing each scene with flawless pace and assured cinematography. DiCaprio’s complicated portrayal deepens with every reel, appearing at times as if his cerebellum might pop. But if there’s an Oscar to be had in The Aviator, it should go–hands down–to Cate Blanchett, for her portrayal of Katharine Hepburn. Playing Howard’s lover, Blanchett more than nails the mannerisms and voice–she’s as big of a screen presence as Hepburn herself. In a film filled with welcome on-the-nose performances, Blanchett’s Hepburn deserves her own three-hour biopic.
