The Aviator (Cert 12A, 170 mins) Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, Adam Scott, John C. Reilly, Jude Law, Ian Holm and Alec Baldwin Directed by Martin Scorsese
IF HIS name had not been on the credits, it would be difficult to believe that this was a Martin Scorsese film. Those who expect gritty realism, innovative film-making and something rather different will be disappointed.
This film biography of the American billionaire Howard Hughes has the sheen, clean good looks and ultimate emptiness of one of those late night American mini series.
But then, this isn't really a Scorsese film. The project originated with its star Leonardo DiCaprio and the script was initially sent to director Michael Mann.
Mann became producer and the script finally landed on Scorsese's desk.
A student of movie history, Scorsese must have liked the Hollywood element in the Hughes story - Hughes made films and dated some of the big stars - although his addiction to flying and aviation must have brought him up short: Scorsese has famously been reluctant to fly.
The script by Gladiator writer John Logan concentrates on just one section of the Hughes story, from the mid-1920s to the 1940s and within that era mainly Hughes's addiction to aviation - hence the title - and his occasional foray into film-making.
DiCaprio still looks far too boyish to give any gravitas to his roles although he has a fair stab at Hughes, looking more believable when he gets a moustache.
And while it's fun to see film stars playing film stars (Jude Law as Errol Flynn and Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn are two of the more successful) there is still an element of the comic impersonator about it.
Hughes made his first big film in the late 1920s, Hell's Angels, a film on which he spent a fortune (he had inherited one) and apparently made one.
Scorsese enjoys this side of things although employing today's usual computer technology for the dog fights whereas Hughes used real aircraft. And why show the film in colour when it was black and white?
