Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
A biopic depicting the life of filmmaker and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes from 1927 to 1947, during which time he became a successful film producer and an aviation magnate, while simultaneously growing more unstable due to severe obsessive-compulsive disorder.
The Aviator showcases DiCaprio's career-best performance at the time, capturing Hughes's charisma and deteriorating mental state with remarkable depth, earning a clear 4 for acting. Scorsese and cinematographer Robert Richardson craft a visually stunning period epic, using deliberate Technicolor palettes to evoke different eras, which is genuinely exceptional cinematography. The plot, while engaging, follows a fairly conventional biopic structure — rise, obsession, triumph — without subverting the form. Novelty is solid but not exceptional; it's a well-executed prestige biopic in a well-worn mold, though Scorsese's specific visual language and the OCD portrayal add distinctiveness. The ending is the weakest element — the film stops rather than concludes, leaving Hughes mid-spiral with the 'the way of the future' monologue that feels abrupt rather than resonant, slightly undercutting the emotional payoff of the preceding runtime.