A beautiful masterpiece directed by Scorsese depicts the legendary Howard Hughes from his rise to fame and power to his unforeseen downfall. The Aviator focuses on his aviation and film career from the late 1920's to the mid 1940's. The story I felt was done nicely. It had a smooth flow to it and kept me interested at all times. I was curious to learn about Howard Hughes because I have no previous knowledge of his background. Although this isn't a documentary, movies may stretch the truth sometimes for entertainment purposes. That is what kept me skeptical throughout the entire film.

I am not an expert on the "real" story behind Hughes and his career so I cannot review this in terms of how accurate or inaccurate this is. I simply am reviewing this in terms of being a movie and not fiction as history. The acting in this movie was pretty superb. Leonardo DiCaprio was excellent and it was a shame he did not win an Oscar! This film did win 5 Academy Awards though so that is saying a lot. The characters were another element I enjoyed. DiCaprio as Hughes displayed several elements of acting which I consider to be phenomenal. He was charming, witty, intelligent, and determined beyond belief. It was fascinating to see how brilliant he could be one moment and the next, so vulnerable. This is what I felt was the strong point of this movie. I felt inspired when he was always making important decisions no matter what his associates told him, and I felt extremely saddened when he was having mental breakdowns. It was very emotional to see him in such a weakened state. Because he was hearing impaired, and did not acknowledge it, this affected his social life tremendously. Howard was not photogenic with the press and could not conduct interviews very well. Because of this, it also changed people's general view of him.

Cate Blanchet portrayal of Katherine Hepburn was extraordinary. (Might I say again, I have no prior knowledge of the real life characters, but if I were to imagine how she would be, this is exactly it) Blanchet has tremendous grace and lit up the screen. Her interaction with Hughes was elegant and believable. I could honestly say these character's relationship was not forced. I enjoyed how they acted and conversed with each other. It was quite amusing at times.

The best secondary character of this film was Senator Ralph Owen Brewster. I thought Alan Alda's performance was superb! Sneaky, corrupt, and intimidating all at once, he displayed every element of a dirty politician! My favorite scene would have to be the courtroom battle between Brewster and Hughes, oh is it a knock-out! Another thing that amazed me about The Aviator was the action. The flight scenes were incredible and took you for a thrill ride! I felt as if I were in the plane with the characters. Hughes crashed twice though because of his ego intervening. The crash scenes however, were pretty cool. I thought it was riveting how after the second crash he recovered but was scarred for life. Hughes was relentless. The man does not give up and kept fighting through his trials and tribulations.

Finally, the overall setting was what I thought to be the best. I have seen plenty of old silent films from the '20s and always imagine what they would be like in color. The Aviator is just that. I loved how the look of the buildings inside and especially the way the characters were dressed. It sure made me think of the old mob movies. Everyone was drinking and smoking cigarettes while listening to the band play. It was great! 

What I particularly did not like was that although the story was compelling and powerful throughout, it was also pretty depressing. This is not a film to watch if you're in a good mood because shortly afterwards I felt down. Secondly, the numerous cameo appearances bugged me. They took away from the attention of the story and just added bad acting. Gwen Stefani as Jean Harlow?? WTF?? I was appalled by her paltry acting skills. It was bad. Then there was Bilbo Baggins, the weather professor. Sure it was nice to see Ian Holm in another film but I couldn't help laughing every time I saw him I said, "BILBO BAGGINS!!". Oh and then there was Brent Spiner too as Robert Gross. Reminded me he was Data on Star Trek. But WAIT! Jude Law was in this film?? Apparently he played a character named Errol Flynn, but this cameo was so short I don't recall even seeing him.

Next we move on to some of the secondary characters. The casting of this movie was 50/50 because while some were homeruns, others were fouls. Alec Baldwin portrays PanAm president Juan Trippe and my thoughts....wasn't he in The Cat in the Hat? Hmm...washed up. I think the last good movie he has done was "Beetlejuice". Kate Beckinsale was Ava Gardner, Hughes's other love interest. The interaction sucked and they had no chemistry whatsoever. Go back to fighting werewolves Kate! Speaking of cameos, on a good note, Rufus Wainwright, an amazing singer once again displayed his talent when Hughe's and Hepburn were attending a dinner celebrating the Hell's Angels premiere. Wainwright belted out a great song which I thought was pretty cool. It elevated the whole atmosphere of the 1930's setting. Again with the bad secondary characters, there was this girl who was Howard's 15 year old girlfriend or something like that. Terrible. Just Terrible. And completely unnecessary.

Although there are some inexcusable cameos that require you to have your puke bag ready, there wasn't much to complain about. Martin Scorsese directs a fantastic piece of artwork, with great acting, great drama, and meshed superb action sequences with a compelling emotional story. The Aviator does not crash land.

• Won 5 Oscars
• Director Martin Scorsese requested that Cate Blanchett watch all of the first 15 films of Katharine Hepburn to learn her mannerism and her poise.
• Goof: When Howard is in the hospital, Trippe sends a flower arrangement that contains Gerbera Daisies. Gerbera Daisies are a hybrid and were not bred until after the 1950's.