The Aviator Review

So it's the movie awards season, which means that suddenly shows like Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood can fill up half their show with something other than the Pitt/Aniston breakup. One thing you usually hear when people start talking about Oscar favorites is that one picture or another is "the type of film Hollywood likes." I never really understood that, especially since the two best films from 2003, The Return of the King and Lost in Translation didn't fit into this category. I mean, does the hellhole that is L.A. mold the thoughts and spirits of the unfortunates who come into its grasp to such a great degree that outsiders can predict exactly which film will appeal to them? I would assume that the normal turnover of old people dying and new people coming in would mean that Hollywood's attitude toward films would change, at least a little bit, from year to year. But maybe all the new people take an oath not to change anything, while the old dead people still vote from their cryogenic freezer tubes next to Ted Williams (disturbing side note: appearently, Ted William's head was separated from his body before it was frozen, and his head is now sitting, Futurama-style, in a separate container).

But now that I've seen The Aviator, I understand a little bit of the "this is what Hollywood likes" formula. The Aviator has just about everything: a compelling central figure, fantastic supporting characters who include some of Hollywood's most famous stars, brilliant triumphs and debilitating pathos. Leo does an excellent job as Hughes, especially portraying his struggle with mental illness. The supporting cast includes Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reily, Alec Baldwin and Alan Alda, and they predictably deliver solid performances across the board. Watch for camoes by Brent Spiner, Willem Dafoe, and Jude Law, who continues his streak of appearing in every film to come out in the last six months. Scorsese directs an excellent film, especially in showing the depths and difficulties of Hughes' illness. Hughes is the sort of character that will appeal to a lot of oscar voters, probably more so than the everymen characters of Sideways, who have neither Hughes' brilliance or problems. Aside from being well written, acted and directed, the movie is epic (both in scope and length, clocking in at just under 3 hours), true (insofar as any biopic is true) and self-referential (in that it portrays Hollywood without really being about it).

If you asked me what my five favorite movies from last year were, I would probably say Eternal Sunshine, Sideways, The Incredibles, Spider-Man 2 and Hero, with the first two being the best films. But with all the above factors working in its favor, and especially after winning the Golden Globe for best Dramatic Film (although I don't really know that Sideways belonged in the comedy category ), The Aviator has to be considered the leading frontrunner for Best Picture.