Pan and Slam

The Aviator

PG-13 | 2h 50min

Writer: John Logan

by Jason Koenigsberg

With Leonardo DiCaprio set to finally take home a Best Actor Academy Award for The Revenant, this is the time to check out his best performance to date and the film he should have taken home the Oscar for in Martin Scorsese’s brilliant Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator. Focusing on Hughes’ time in Hollywood during the late 1920’s and ending with his initial test flight of the Hercules “Spruce Goose” aircraft in 1946. This is a glorious movie that is a love letter to a golden age in motion picture history as well as being one of the greatest screen biographies of all time. It may not be Scorsese’s best film, although it is up there, but this is without a doubt DiCaprio’s finest performance in any film. He captured a young Howard Hughes and all of his charisma and idiosyncrasies perfectly. It won five Oscars including Cate Blanchett for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of the legendary Katherine Hepburn. However none were more deserving than Ralph Richardson’s outstanding cinematography for his detailed use of colors in every scene and Thelma Schoonmaker’s masterful editing. The only Oscar it did not win that it deserved was Leo, who lost Best Actor to Jamie Foxx in Ray, another excellent piece of work. By the end of February, the Academy will rectify their mistake of passing over DiCaprio for this film, as well as many others. Why not give The Aviator a chance to see DiCaprio excel in the greatest performance of his career thus far. 

The Aviator is currently available to stream on Netflix. Here is a montage of Scorsese’s films, all of them are worthwhile and some of his best recent ones feature DiCaprio. They have proven to be the best director/actor team of the 21st century.