Netflix pick for 6/15/15 – ‘The Aviator’

From 2004, “The Aviator” Howard Hughes biopic starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Martin Scorsese is just as much a movie about Hughes as it is a movie about movies, especially those of the ’30s and ’40s, and this whole epic film serves as a huge love letter to a bygone era while also working as a great depiction of a man held back only by his own demons.

Howard Hughes was a man who made a lot of money for himself and used it to the push the limits of what interested, which the 30’s and 40’s often involved filmmaking and aviation, and in both arenas he was constantly pushing for bigger and bolder. This movie starts with him directing his first movie, the huge hit “Hell’ Angels” and ends with him trying to validate his hugely ambitious Spruce Goose monster plane for the US Military which ended up costing more than planned and couldn’t even be completed before the end of the war.

Between these events we see Hughes rise in fame and stardom through his work as well as see him succumb to a horrible case of OCD that threatens to make him an unproductive shut in for the remainder of his life, and it is a fascinating portrayal of a man with an immeasurable reach and nearly identical grasp. He took on the airline industry, the film censors, and he always won, because he was Howard Hughes. He was a test pilot and a red carpet walking card carrying member of the Glitterati and he was fascinating, and this movie captures all of that, and of course in a way that only Martin Scorsese could do. Such a good film, more people should be talking about this one more often.

See for yourself and watch “The Aviator” right here on the Netflix Instant.