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The Aviator Our rating: Rate this movie   MPAA rating: PG-13 (for thematic elements, sexual content, nudity, language, and a crash sequence) Theater release: December 17, 2004 by Miramax Films Wide release: December 25, 2004 Limited release: December 17, 2004 Directed by: Martin Scorsese Runtime: 2 hours 49 minutes Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio (Howard Hughes), Cate Blanchett (Katharine Hepburn), Kate Beckinsale (Ava Gardner), John C. Reilly (Noah Dietrich), Alec Baldwin (Juan Trippe), Alan Alda (Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster), Ian Holm (Professor Fitz) Related: Talk About It/Family Corner

The closing months of 2004 have shaped it into the year of the biopic, with historical exposés on the lives of Ray Charles, J.M. Barrie, Alfred Kinsey, Bobby Darin, and Alexander the Great. Yet as interesting as their stories are, none are quite as fascinating as the life of Howard Hughes, the subject of Martin Scorsese's highly ambitious The Aviator.

Industrialist billionaire, aviation pioneer and daredevil, film producer, Hollywood playboy, and yes, that reclusive mysophobe who wore the Kleenex boxes on his feet. Hughes was all of these things, and as with four of the aforementioned personalities, he left his own unique and indelible mark on 20th century arts and culture. Like the famed Greek conqueror, his ambition took his life to incredible heights, only to falter because genius and madness have a tendency to bleed together.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays the aviation maverick Howard Hughes

With so much historical ground to cover, it's understandable why The Aviator runs close to three hours, yet there's rarely a dull moment because Hughes lived such an active and varied life. As with Ray, this film doesn't attempt to tell the whole story from womb to tomb, opting to focus on the most important years of Hughes' legacy from the late 1920s into the '40s.

After a short prologue that establishes Hughes' fear of germs from an early age, the film launches from 1927 Hollywood. Twenty-two-year-old Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio) has secured the family fortune from his late parents and is now attempting to launch a career in motion pictures. His sprawling aviation epic Hell's Angels is a brilliant beginning to The Aviator because it quickly introduces nearly every facet of the man. As a filmmaker, Hughes was like some unholy combination of Cecil B. DeMille and Ed Wood—a visionary with a passion for grand-scale production, yet irrational with his art and reckless with his seemingly limitless finances. This is a man who dreamed big and then spent his resources to make those dreams a reality, regardless of the cost or wisdom to realize that dream.

Cate Blanchett is marvelous in the role of Katharine Hepburn

Without spoiling too many details of this hilarious opening segment, Hell's Angels was the most expensive movie of its time, and though it did prove popular with audiences and critics, it failed to turn a profit because of Hughes' relentless (and ridiculous) ideas. Yet it certainly wasn't a complete failure, as his moviemaking process led to the formation of Hughes Aircraft, to which he later added Trans-World Airlines and further established his aviation empire with a government contract to build for World War II. That's Hughes for you—snatching success from the jaws of failure because of his diversified business dealings.

Hughes' movies also earned him clout among the Hollywood elite, leading to a sweetly developed relationship with screen legend Katharine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett). Initially, Hughes isn't sure what to make of the actress's brash and outspoken personality. But after a sweet date flying over Hollywood in a private plane, the two seem right for each other—two type-A personalities so enamored with their celebrity, they're afraid to let the world see the flawed "freaks" underneath their personas.

Not that all "freaks" are created equal—Hughes redefined terms like "manic" and "eccentric." Despite all of his ideas, the man never seemed to take proper time to think them through or give them the necessary attention, always moving on to the next big thing. As portrayed in the film, this is a man who unveiled his concept for the world's largest aircraft (The Hercules, dubbed by many as the "Spruce Goose") while editing his latest cinematic endeavor—and also while finalizing the blueprints for the half-cup bra to better enhance his favorite Hollywood starlets. Hughes' reputation as a womanizer is handled with restraint, though things get a little creepy when he begins to date a teenage girl half his age. Nor does it help when symptoms of Hughes' mental disorder begin to manifest more publicly and consistently with time.

Kate Beckinsale plays the part of Ava Gardner

All this dirt serves as potent ammunition for competing Pan Am mogul Juan Trippe (Alec Baldwin) and his backer, Maine Senator Ralph Owen Brewster (Alan Alda), who wish to bring Hughes down to further their own quest for power and success. For all of Hughes' faults, the film still portrays him as an idealistic and capitalistic underdog—unorthodox and obsessed with success, but not at the cost of corruption.

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