Two years after Gangs of New York, Martin Scorsese returns with a slick, diverting but rather shallow biopic of Howard Hughes, the eccentric Texan billionaire, aviation pioneer and legendary playboy. Leonardo DiCaprio takes on the difficult role of Hughes, guiding us through two of the most eventful decades of his life - from his playboy days in the 1920s soon after he inherited his family's fortune, through to his more paranoid existence in the late 1940s. An enigma to the public and even those closest to him, that didn't stop Hughes from bedding a slew of beautiful women over this era - with his two great loves being Katharine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett, wonderful) and Ava Gardener (Kate Beckinsale, shambolic).
Although it's predicted that The Aviator will finally win Martin Scorsese the best director Oscar that has thus far evaded him, this handsome-looking biopic feels curiously flat. Oddly paced, The Aviator never really threatens to scratch the surface of Hughes, presenting him in a mildly approving but somewhat detached light. This offbeat tone probably isn't helped by the baffling decision to concentrate on a relatively short period of Hughes' life - despite the film's running time of close to three hours. Despite this jarring inconsistency, DiCaprio does rather well in the opening hour, which has a loose, knockabout charm. But as the film progresses and Hughes begins his gradual decline into paranoia and madness, Scorsese becomes more interested in the stylistics of the story than producing the dramatic gas to make The Aviator soar.