Howard Hughes dreamt big, from movies to airplanes. Howard Hughes who inherited a fortune when his parents dies would change the very skies themselves. This is the story of the aviation pioneer Howard Hughes, an eccentric billionaire industrialist and Hollywood film mogul, famous for romancing some of the world's most beautiful women. The drama recounts the years of his life from the late 1920s through the 1940s, an epoch when Hughes was directing and producing Hollywood movies and test flying innovative aircrafts he designed and created. Beginning with his most ambitious picture Hell’s Angel’s where Hughes would delay the movie time and time again, even for cloud formations, until he go it right. Ending in 1946 when he was still young and charismatic defending his spending of the government’s money during World War II developing planes, all the while dating the likes of Ava Gardner and Katherine Hepburn.

The movie is pompous which is kind of fitting, as that would probably be the best way to also describe Howard Hughes. That’s not to say the movie isn’t good, its just very long winded at times and very full of itself. But the same thing could be said about most Martin Scorsese films, as that seems to be his style. The movie did a lot of things right but at the same time it did a lot of things wrong. The worst thing it did was being long winded at time, which leads to lulls in the film, which lead to boredom from the audience. But when the movie was kicking and the action was happening it was hard to not be enthralled by the movie and the life of Howard Hughes. Both can be very highly entertaining at times, which just makes me question why they had to spend so much time on non relevant things. It’s a movie not a biography, you need to grab your audience and not let them go, which it did at times and failed to do at other times.

I can’t imagine a better casting choice then Leonardo DiCaprio to play the lead role. Just like 2002’s Catch me if You Can Frank Abgnale, Leonardo just has the arrogance and cockiness that fits the part to a T. He does another great job in the less charismatic character of Hughes as he truly makes you see the cocky, arrogant aviator that changed Hollywood as well as the skies. The movie is Leo but he had some help from a couple actresses who also take on some very famous performances, Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner and Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn. Cate herself turns in a stellar performance of the neurotic actress that enthralled Hollywood in its early years. The movie is sure to be Oscar fodder, the reason it may have forgot to be as entertaining as it could at times, but all in all its still worth seeing.
4 star out of 5