Who Asked You...Movie Review - The Aviator

The Aviator

Directed By: Martin Scorsese (“Taxi Driver”, “Goodfellas”)
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio (“Titanic”, “Gangs of New York”), Cate Blanchett (“The Talented Mr. Ripley”, Lord of the Rings Trilogy), Kate Beckinsale (“Serendipity”, “Underworld”), John C. Reilly (“Chicago”, “Magnolia”), Alec Baldwin, Ian Holm, Alan Alda, Jude Law, Gwen Stefani

Howard Hughes in certainly not someone that I knew a great deal about before I sat down to watch “The Aviator”. Everyone has probably heard of the reclusive and eccentric millionaire at some point. If tales about his massive airplane/boat the “Spruce Moose” haven’t caught your attention, then his borderline insanity and the period over which he saved his urine has. Even TV’s “The Simpsons” has spoofed Howard Hughes through Springfield’s resident millionaire Mr. Burns.

While these stories are at least partially true, there was clearly much more to the man. In his time he was on the forefront of action filmmaking, airplane design, the airplane industry, and satellite technology. In his spare time wooed Hollywood starlets such as Katherine Hepburn and Ava Gardner.


Hughes was left an orphan millionaire at the age of 18 when his father’s death left him with 75% of the Hughes Tool Company. He quickly turned his small fortune into a large one but, he also did not hold back on spending either. He left Texas for Hollywood and, without the help of the studios (unheard of at that time), produced several films that revolutionized their particular genres. It cost him four million dollars to make “Hell’s Angels” and that was in the 1920s. His work with the original “Scarface” made an impact on noir and gangster films that would be felt for decades. He also produced “The Flying Leathernecks” a very fun John Wayne film.

Besides is film career, Hughes made a splash by buying TWA and turning it into one of the premier airlines in the country. Never afraid to leverage what he had for what he could have, it was not uncommon for him to mortgage all of his assets in order to complete his film or airplane projects.

The film evenly splits the 170 minutes of running time telling the stories of his compulsions, disorders, relationships, movies, and battles with Pan-Am Airlines. The Pan-Am war and film production is easily the more interesting tales in my opinion. Hughes’ romance with Katherine Hepburn was rather standard as far as film biographies go. However, Cate Blanchett’s performance as Hepburn is easily the most memorable performance of the movie.

All of the performances were at a high level as you might expect in a Scorsese picture. DiCaprio turns in some fine work but it doesn’t particularly stand out. The supporting cast of character actors such as Ian Holm, John C. Reilly, and Alec Baldwin (one of the better villains nowadays) are all solid. Kate Beckinsale has little to do in the film but succeeds in bringing to life the stunning look of Ava Gardner.

All in all the film is very good and suffers only from its inability to rise above being just another film biography. The story of Hughes’ life from the 1920s to 1940s is told well, with the final chapters of his life left out. I wish that biographies spent more time telling the story about what the subject did in their life and not focus so tightly on exposing their failings. I know that may not be the most humanist of opinions but, films to need to be entertaining first. Sadly it would seem that the prevailing notion in Hollywood is that we will only be interested in learning about someone else’s faults. A good biography should tell us both who someone is and what they did. I would suggest however that some lives may be more interesting if the “what” receives first billing above the “whom”.