The Aviator

I was one of the few who loved Martin Scorsese's last endeavor (Gangs of New York) as opposed to simply liking it. This film feels more palatable to the masses, and I hope it gets the box office he deserves. That his entire career deserves. (I could go off on that tangent for some time...) By palatable I mean that this is a heartfelt tale of a super-smart visionary who changed the face of aviation in this country, all the while struggling with a mental illness that caused bizarre fits of paranoia and obsession. Who doesn't love the story of someone who triumphs against great odds? I would propose that there's more than that in this film. Scorsese doesn't shrink from making his Howard Hughes far more human. Hughes didn't pull himself up by his bootstraps (rich by birth) and his decisions often seemed misguided (designing cargo and troop transport ships when the war is almost over?). He spent far more than he had to finance his "crazy" schemes. But, at least as Scorsese puts it, he was often more right than wrong. Which is where the triumph part comes in. I expect many, many people will make comparisons to Citizen Kane, so I'll refrain from that. Except to say that the colors in this film are mind-boggling. The red in the roses, the burnt-orange of a dress, the bizarre green of the golf course... Either someone did a lot of work with filters or Scorsese has developed a new way to transform color onscreen. And Cate Blanchett as Kate Hepburn! I had my doubts going into the film that she would be able to pull that off. There is some truth to the rumor that she's the next Meryl Streep -- her ability to become someone else without breaking a sweat is similar to Streep's own abilities (although with Streep it's more than just a new language or voice, but that's for a different review). Regardless, Blanchett is stupendous as Hepburn and is one more reason to see the film.

year: 2004
length: 170 min.
rating: 3.5
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338751/combined