Holiday Movie Preview 2004

The Aviator

The only thing more lush than billionaire Howard Hughes's life is Martin Scorsese's cinematic interpretation of it. The master director recreates the ostentatious milieu in which Hughes lived, including all the mansions, fancy cars, airplanes and Hollywood starlets he collected. As Hughes, focusing mainly on the 1930s when he was transforming his oil-business proceeds into a massive fortune, Leonardo DiCaprio lends an air of dapperness and vulnerability that turns the eccentric playboy into a dreamer who really just wanted to fly.

But it's not all drama ‑- there's a glossy parade of movie stars portrayed in the movie, including Katharine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett) and Ava Gardner (Kate Beckinsale), two of Hughes's more notorious conquests, plus Errol Flynn (Jude Law) and Noah Dietrich (John C. Reilly). And there's still plenty of time for Jean Harlow, played by ska queen Gwen Stefani making her movie debut. It's a fitting cameo, since when Hughes was making the film Hell's Angel, he cast Harlow in a leading role and launched her film career.

next : Beyond the Sea