The Aviator -- Rhinotainment

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

Leonardo DiCaprio plays Hughes, the brilliant engineer who made planes look sharper and go faster. It was his idea to cut off the top wing on planes for more speed. It was his idea use airplanes for commercial use, sending people all around the world when their only other option was to do it on a boat. All the while he was producing and directing epic films like Hell's Angels and wooing the likes of Katherine Hepburn, Ava Gardner and Jean Harlow. But as the money and fame came rolling in, Hughes's crippling fear of germs and disease was tearing him apart.

From the time he was a child, his mother instilled in him the fear of disease and impurity. Never forgetting this, he later became a victim of Obsessive Complusive Disorder, suffering several nervous breakdowns which resulted in him withdrawing from the public and quarantining himself away from the invisible enemies that were ruining his quality of life. On top of that, Hughes was involved in a tragic plane crash that left him hobbled and broken. By this point in his life, it was merely an insult to injury.

I can't recommend this movie enough. It's safe to say that it ranks up with Scorsese's best. It's visually stunning and at times surreal. Colorfully vivid and sharp. The acting is top notch. Let's get this straight; other than his work in What's Eating Gilbert Grape, I have never been a fan of Leo DiCaprio. But he tops that great role with his portrayal of Hughes. I was wondering from the opening scene whether Leo was going to be believable as Hughes. As he barked orders on the set of his shaky first film, it looked like a fifteen year-old prodigy making history. But he completely became the character and by the end of the film, you weren't watching a boyish actor.

Also great were Cate Blanchett as the unsinkable Hepburn, Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner (Hughes perfect foil), John C. Reilly as Hughes' loyal assistant, Alec Baldwin as Hughes' primary aviation competition and Alan Alda as the brutish senator out to ruin Hughes' empire.