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Biopic of Howard Hughes one of the best pictures of the year
BY L. KENT WOLGAMOTT / Lincoln Journal Star
Wednesday, Dec 22, 2004 - 05:03:49 pm CST

For a large segment of the population, the name Howard Hughes now means nothing. Those that do know his name are most likely to remember him as the reclusive rich guy who hid away at the top of a Las Vegas casino and did all kinds of weird things.

In "The Aviator," Martin Scorsese's supercharged epic biopic, Hughes comes into a far different focus — a driven billionaire who took his family tool fortune and invested it in the movies and the fledgling aviation industry, making his mark in both.

A larger-than-life persona, Hughes flew the planes that he helped develop and lived the Hollywood night life, making the rounds with starlets on his arm.

But Hughes was also a troubled man, even early in his life, obsessed with cleanliness courtesy of his over-protective mother and clearly some sort of mental illness that made him erratic and compulsive. The latter, of course, took over Hughes later in his life, and that sad ending can be seen coming in the final frames of "The Aviator."

Until then, Hughes' story is an all-American tale that has finally been captured with the power, grace and beauty it deserves in the medium he loved.

Scorsese's best film since "Casino" or maybe even "GoodFellas," "The Aviator" is beautifully photographed in rich '50s-style colors by Robert Richardson, designed to the period by Dante Ferretti and perfectly assembled by Scorsese's longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker, who just might be the best in the business.

Look for all of the above to be contenders for Oscar nominations, along with the film itself getting a best picture nod. It's also likely that some of the actors will get nominated.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the picture is how perfectly Leonardo DiCaprio fits the role as Hughes. In what is, by far, his best performance, DiCaprio makes Hughes confident to the point of arrogance, a risk taker and a seducer. But he also captures the creeping insecurity and instability created by his mental problems.

In its depictions of a mental meltdown, "The Aviator" has something in common with "A Beautiful Mind." But this picture doesn't mess with the viewers in depicting Hughes' illness — it's clear something is wrong, and even he begins to realize it.

DiCaprio has plenty of company in this universally well-acted film.

Cate Blanchett channels Katherine Hepburn in a sure-to-be-nominated performance. Not only does she look like Hepburn, courtesy of the skilled makeup and costume artists, she sounds like the great Kate — and her mannerisms are perfect.

Kate Beckinsale doesn't get as much screen time as Blanchett, but she's quite good as Ava Gardner, and even No Doubt's Gwen Stefani makes a memorable, if cameo-like, appearance as Jean Harlow. The same can be said for Jude Law, who pops in as an out-of-control Errol Flynn.

But the primary men in Hughes' life are his much-stressed business manager Noah Dietrich, played by the superb character actor John C. Reilly, his engineer Glenn "Ode" Odekirk (Matt Ross), and his chief rival, Pan American Airlines chief Juan Trippe (Alec Baldwin).

A political manipulator, Trippe uses his influence to push Sen. Owen Brewster (Alan Alda) to use all the powers of the federal government to harass Hughes, eventually hauling him in front of a kangaroo-court style, nationally televised Senate hearing. That may have been Hughes' finest moment.

If not, it was when he took the "Spruce Goose," his huge wooden transport plane — the largest aircraft ever built at the time — on its only flight. That's where "The Aviator" comes to an end, before Hughes' decades of decline. It is to Scorsese's and DiCaprio's credit that the decline can be seen as eminent and yet Hughes remains a charismatic, vital figure.

There's a certain distance to "The Aviator" that some have found to be offputting. But Hughes didn't live the kind of life that is warm and cuddly, and Scorsese and company don't try to make him something he wasn't.

For that reason, "The Aviator" is the best biopic in a year of stories of real people, edging out "Kinsey" and "Ray." It's also one of the best pictures of 2004.

Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.