The film proceeds with the same sort of brass tacks will power that Howard Hughes pumped into his film and airplane projects. Terribly appropriate too since the first such project the film depicts is "Hell's Angels," Hughes' multi-million dollar motion picture production. Scorsese cares about every frame, every cut, as Hughes sweats over every camera angle. I haven't seen "Hell's Angels," but the result of this such attention makes "Aviator" a lush, vibrant, well-paced, picture.

Hughes will immediately captivate you; he's a strong personality with guts of a warrior. A man on a mission, and though an heir to millions, he seems common. His plight feels somehow an overblown, enlarged version of our own. Though we'll probably never build a wooden airplane two football fields long, DiCaprio and Scorsese make us feel like the many obstacles facing Hughes are somehow like our own obstacles.

It's a rage against the machine, surge of passion for your calling adventure that drives the picture high into the sky, like an experimental aircraft. But there are a few shaky screws loose in the foil. As Hughes wins battle after battle with his competition, he slowly loses the battle with his own sanity. An unsettling sputtering engine disturbs the wonderful feeling of soaring so aptly created in the first chunk of the film. The emotional arc falls into a spinning biplane tumble toward the hard Earth.

Of course, Leo's performance also tops the notch. And with Cate Blanchett recreating Katharine Hepburn, the film is far from lacking in the acting department. A solid production, but the picture of Hughes painted is far from dreamy. It's difficult to watch someone crash. Also, at almost 3 hours long, this bio only covers a certain portion of Hughes life.

This film screened at a Krikorian Theatre.