Scorsese, DiCaprio fly high in 'Aviator'

Martin Scorsese is long overdue for an Academy Award. His classic films "Taxi Driver," "Raging Bull," and "Goodfellas" failed to earn him Academy gold and though "The Aviator" may not be as good as these previous masterpieces (it would be like comparing Picasso to Van Gogh), it is certainly good enough to merit at least one coveted Oscar. \nLeonardo DiCaprio, as billionaire mogul Howard Hughes, gives his best performance since 1993's "What's Eating Gilbert Grape." DiCaprio does an excellent job depicting Hughes's obsessive compulsive state of mind, which is not a focal point but revealed now and again throughout the movie. While his OCD eventually drove Hughes to lock himself in his Las Vegas penthouse for the last two decades of his life, it also drove him to make perfect movies, build unimaginably sized planes and seduce the most famous celebrities of his time. \nWe first see Hughes as a manic filmmaker working on "Hell's Angels," the most expensive film of its time. After spending years and millions making the movie, at the screening Hughes says he wants it redone to include audio. We then see Hughes the womanizer and his affairs with actresses Katherine Hepburn (Blanchett), Ava Gardener (Beckinsale) and Jean Harlow (No Doubt's Gwen Stefani). Then there is Hughes the businessman, owner of TWA airlines, and builder of the world's largest plane the "Hercules" (coined the "Spruce Goose"). Around this time Hughes is accused of being a war profiteer and taken to court by Senator Owen Brewster (Alan Alda). The courtroom scene is DiCaprio's finest in the film. \nBut in all Hughes' life, through all his accomplishments, mental traumas, and beneath all his millions of dollars, he was a born pilot. He had planes built the way he wanted and always flew them himself. Twice in the film Hughes is involved in a plane crash and these are easily the best shot sequences in the film. \nThis film is solid in all facets. After years of preproduction, a completely different version of the script, a change in directors (Michael Mann was attached), and 90 straight days of shooting for DiCaprio, came the best film of the year.