BSA 104 (Screenwriting) Week 13 : The Aviator Review
The Aviator is a classic biopic chronicling about twenty years of the life of Howard Hughes. Oh and it's directed by Martin Scorcese.
I went into The Aviator with two expectations:
1. That it will be entertaining on the level that biopics usually are. Like a historical documentary but more engaging, something that is easy to watch and that you walk away knowing more about a subject than you did before watching the film. If interesting enough it would hopefully encourage further, external exploration of the subject.
2. A really good movie that I watch without a lot of expectation but find myself really engaged in because of how well its told. I have had this experience with a lot of films in the past, where I don't have an overwhelming to watch a film but find myself really loving it. Some recent examples would be Room (2015) and Arrival (2016).
I walked away with half of my expectations fulfilled, specifically the first half. In this way I found myself with a weird mix of emotions, where I was satisfied with the experience, but somewhat disappointed that it wasn't more than the sum of its parts.
With Scorcese attached I thought the movie would manage to be more than just another biopic, possibly providing insight or exploring an interesting idea. I wanted a more well rounded package,
instead The Aviator feels like any other biopic. It's a period from someone's life represented subjectively. It's fine, it's a well made film (especially on the technical side of things) but it's inability to subvert its own genre left me cold.
Something like Steve Jobs (2015) is a much more interesting and ultimately more solid way to tell a real person's story. That film plays with structure and appears carefully planned. I suspected that Scorcese might incorporate some techniques from Hughes films into the biopic about him, but if they were there I didn't notice them. In my mind if the story of an artist's life is being told, the film should be done in the same stylistic manner of that artists work. The Aviator is an enjoyable yet ultimately unmemorable experience.
The main character is likable because of his insane ambition and ability to deliver on his promises. There is a sense of respect that one feels towards a perfectionist. The problem with Hughes in this film is that we're stuck with him for almost three hours and in that time he doesn't display a lot of personality or goes through a lot emotionally. There is enough ups and downs for an interesting story, maybe just not for such a long film - I felt that this same story could have been told in under two hours.
There are a lot of actors in the film but the characters they play are very insignificant. They are extremely small supporting roles that are hard to remember, the only interesting side character was Cate Blanchett's Katharine Hepburn. She's the only character that feels alive and the only actor in the film to convincingly inhabit the skin of another person. It's a somewhat comical performance but one that never becomes drab, something that happens to be present in every other character in the film.
I have always thought that Dicaprio isn't much of a character actor, he seems to always choose the same kind of role and it's hard to see anyone else on screen other than the actor himself. He is effective at evoking emotion, but for a biopic you need an interesting character to watch. Hughes didn't feel three dimensional to me, for a biopic where all you have is the main character (there almost isn't a scene without him) this really hurt the film.
There are also no real set backs for Hughes other than his own psyche, something that could have been interesting but feels dragged out here and soon becomes old. We get the point early on in the picture and it never really develops. There are some very engaging scenes, the opening twenty minutes for example were absolutely gripping (maybe because its about making a movie and that's personal bias, but the dynamics and scale here was something not present in the rest of the film).
All in all the movie loses it's momentum and never reaches the same heights (no pun intended) that it did in those initial scenes.
I went into The Aviator with two expectations:
1. That it will be entertaining on the level that biopics usually are. Like a historical documentary but more engaging, something that is easy to watch and that you walk away knowing more about a subject than you did before watching the film. If interesting enough it would hopefully encourage further, external exploration of the subject.
2. A really good movie that I watch without a lot of expectation but find myself really engaged in because of how well its told. I have had this experience with a lot of films in the past, where I don't have an overwhelming to watch a film but find myself really loving it. Some recent examples would be Room (2015) and Arrival (2016).
I walked away with half of my expectations fulfilled, specifically the first half. In this way I found myself with a weird mix of emotions, where I was satisfied with the experience, but somewhat disappointed that it wasn't more than the sum of its parts.
With Scorcese attached I thought the movie would manage to be more than just another biopic, possibly providing insight or exploring an interesting idea. I wanted a more well rounded package,
instead The Aviator feels like any other biopic. It's a period from someone's life represented subjectively. It's fine, it's a well made film (especially on the technical side of things) but it's inability to subvert its own genre left me cold.
Something like Steve Jobs (2015) is a much more interesting and ultimately more solid way to tell a real person's story. That film plays with structure and appears carefully planned. I suspected that Scorcese might incorporate some techniques from Hughes films into the biopic about him, but if they were there I didn't notice them. In my mind if the story of an artist's life is being told, the film should be done in the same stylistic manner of that artists work. The Aviator is an enjoyable yet ultimately unmemorable experience.
The main character is likable because of his insane ambition and ability to deliver on his promises. There is a sense of respect that one feels towards a perfectionist. The problem with Hughes in this film is that we're stuck with him for almost three hours and in that time he doesn't display a lot of personality or goes through a lot emotionally. There is enough ups and downs for an interesting story, maybe just not for such a long film - I felt that this same story could have been told in under two hours.
In scenes like these Dicaprio looks different but never quite inhabits the character like some other great actors would
It was surprising how many recognizable actors showed up in this film, it makes sense because it was such a big film, but because of the small roles they play. John C. Reilly, Jude Law, Kate Beckinsale, Alec Baldwin and even Willem Dafoe all show up in parts that feel way too small for them.
I have always thought that Dicaprio isn't much of a character actor, he seems to always choose the same kind of role and it's hard to see anyone else on screen other than the actor himself. He is effective at evoking emotion, but for a biopic you need an interesting character to watch. Hughes didn't feel three dimensional to me, for a biopic where all you have is the main character (there almost isn't a scene without him) this really hurt the film.
There are also no real set backs for Hughes other than his own psyche, something that could have been interesting but feels dragged out here and soon becomes old. We get the point early on in the picture and it never really develops. There are some very engaging scenes, the opening twenty minutes for example were absolutely gripping (maybe because its about making a movie and that's personal bias, but the dynamics and scale here was something not present in the rest of the film).
Disengagement came from the scenes where the plot seems to stand still, the segment of the film with Hughes in the theater losing his mind for example. Maybe seeing what people were saying about him during this period would have been more interesting.
All in all the movie loses it's momentum and never reaches the same heights (no pun intended) that it did in those initial scenes.
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