MPAA Rating: PG-13
Original Review Date: January 17, 2005
Reviewed by: Erin, Movie Muse
In a Nutshell: Well filmed, well acted, beautiful costuming,
very enjoyable, definitely worth seeing.
Quick Plot: Bio-pic of Howard Hughes spanning his early sucesses
and his mid-life breakdown. Certainly a brilliant and
innovative man, despite his eventual madness.
In Detail: I really enjoyed this film. I wasn't sure what I
would get. I'm not a huge fan of Martin Scorsese films anyway
(the subject matter rarely appeals to me), so I was concerned,
particularly with it being 2 hours and 45 minutes long. It
certainly didn't feel that way though. I have no idea how
accurate any of the facts are (we all know how reliable
Hollywood version facts are), but if even half of what is
portrayed is the truth, then he was a truely visionary man
decades ahead of his time. As for the film itself, I think the
casting was inspired, most especially Cate Blanchett as
Katherine Hepburn. However, in a way, by casting so many well
known people, it is hard sometimes to get past who the actor is
and down to the performance. Some of this is a function of what
could have been better acting, but some is purely the visual of
such recognizable people in relatively one-dimensional roles.
Take Cate Blanchett, for instance. Many have put down her
performance as lacking depth, but I disagree. To have attempted
to portray someone as famous as "Kate" accurately would have
been difficult, and she would have been dogged for her
inaccuracies. To instead do her up as a bit of a charicature,
she captured the essence without detracting from DiCaprio's
performance. DiCaprio, for the most part, does transcend his
recognizability, but it pops up every now and then, particularly
during the "isolationist" period of the film. Overall, though,
his performance is excellent. Having seen virtually no Scorsese
films, I don't know if this is a trademark of his or not, but I
did also want to comment on the use of silence in this film. In
an era where louder is better, the periods of quiet in this
movie are amazing. "Listen" for them, if you see it; it is
incredibly effective at saying all there is to say.
Sorry, I'm not usually so "formal" and heavy-handed with my
reviews, but this film certainly deserved it. I wasn't thinking
that it necessarily deserved a potential Oscar nomination (or
Golden Globe win) for Best Picture, but rereading my
observations above, perhaps it really does.
Will I Buy It? It is *worth* buying, but I know I wouldn't
watch it a whole lot, so no. (Notice how many fewer movies I
think I'll buy now that we have significantly less money? LOL)
Absolutely worth seeing, though would lose very little on DVD
(except a couple of remarkable surround sound sequences for
those of us not home-equipped).
