The official REVIEWS thread.

[mel]

Post your reviews here and here only. Other threads will be locked.

[Lilly]

i really liked the movie. the only major flaw that i detected was that the movie was a bit too long. i felt the backgrounds and costumes really portrayed the time period.

the cast is great as well. i thought adam scott did well as one of hughes' partners (which i wasn't really expecting). leo gave a great performance, and i just loved kate's portrayal of ava. (after the movie was over i heard whispers of her performace, "she was great.") i love that one scene where ava calls some girl a bitch (i won't go into detail), that was an awesome scene. cate blanchett as kate hepburn.... she did well but i don't know. i thought kate should've gotten the nomination instead of cate (and i am not playing bias). if only her part was a bit bigger...

there were also many elements in the movie that i enjoyed. i thought the repeated image of howard being so dependent on women was played upon greatly. whether it had been kate hepburn or ava gardner, he was always in search for his mother's love. the irony in all this is that even though his mother provided him with such love, it also led to his tragic demise (ending in that very searching state).

there were many comedic scenes in the film as well. the end got to me a little bit though. i understand that the movie focuses on hughes' life from the 20s-40s, but the ending (imo) was quite theatrical. all in all, it is a movie worth seeing.

[DeathDealer88]

I plan on seeing it soon. So how long is Kate's role in the film?

[Lilly]

like a few other posters have already said, kate does not have a lot of screen time but once she comes on her presence is powerful.
here's a link to one of kate's interviews where she talks about her supporting role:
http://romanticmovies.about.com/od/theaviator/a/aviatorkb121904.htm

[DeathDealer88]

Thanks for the link.

[LooseCrew]

Went to see it last night. Excellent film. I don't know much about Ava Gardner but thought that Ms Beckinsale was wonderful. I felt Cate Blanchett was a bit over the top with the Katherine Hepburn impression. It was a little too close to a charicature and could have done with being a little more restrained, but it's a minor gripe when the entire movie is so good. Leonardo DiCaprio is finally doing the roles us blokes want to see him do. He's a damn fine actor and this is proof that the pretty boy image is just that, an image. It'll be between him and Jamie Foxx for the Oscar.
If you're in any doubts about seeing this film, just go and see it. Of the 170mins I'd guess Kate is on screen for about 10-15mins? That doesn't sound a lot but all of those minutes are integral to the story. Beautifully shot, beautifully acted, an excellent look at the golden age of Hollywood. Enjoy it!

[Vampyro]

The Aviator

My Review:

The Aviator portrays a young man named Howard Hughes who ambitiously loves aviation. As a kid, he had the craziest dream to be the richest man alive. When his father died, he mostly inherit most of his father’s fortune money. He quickly then moved to Hollywood to become a producer, helping launch career for starlets and producing Hell's Angels, Scarface, Front Page and Flying Leathernecks. As an entrepreneur, he goes on to follow his dreams spending millions of dollar in aviation.Mr. Hughes also encounters obstacles in the film such as competition in the business, media, relationship, psychological problem and trouble meeting project deadlines.

The film also focuses about his relationship with Katharine Hepburn and Eva Gardner.Cate Blanchett was did an astounding job although the complexity of her role wasn’t really fleshed out. Nonetheless, she deserves the recognition as a Best Supporting Actress on the film. As for Eva Gardner, Kate Beckinsale, I really liked her character because she is the woman who cannot be bought. Mr. Hughes offers sapphire necklace she refuses to take, instead, she told Hughes to buy her dinner instead. As for our protagonist, Leonardo DiCaprio really nailed his role as Howard Hughes. I thought his acting was phenomenal; he very well deserves some recognition. He was also devoted to his work, he is one of the executive producers in this flick.

The film is very long but you might as well praise it because of its fascinating story, cinematography, marvelous performances and well directed by one of the best directors alive. This movie is just impeccable. This is an instant classic in my opinion. If Leonardo is holding you back from seeing this movie because you dislike him for whatever reason, forget about that and go see it. This is a must see powerful drama. It's definitely on the A list.

My Review: 10/10

[Uncovered]

I just saw The Aviator this afternoon. I think the movie is excellent -- very entertaining. I enjoyed it from beginning to end. I will purchase it on DVD when it becomes available. Anyway, I don’t really want to write a review, but I do have a comment. I was really surprised that Kate was only on-screen for about a total of 10 minutes. I've seen 16 of her movies (and I'm waiting for 3 more that I ordered through the mail), and this is by far the smallest role I've seen her take. The reason I'm so surprised at the small size of her role is because of two things I think. First of all, Eva's relationship with Howard stretched over the course of 20 years, didn't it? But most importantly, Kate put her body through hell for this role. She had to gain (and then lose) 20 pounds. That's an extreme physical and mental lifestyle change for such a tiny role. Make no mistake, I genuinely believe she's perfect for the role; I just can't believe she had to go through so much for so little.

Let me leave my rant behind now. I definitely do recommend the movie to anyone...as long as you know that Kate isn't in as large of a role as you're used to seeing. I will say this - when she appears on-screen, she lights it up like no one else in the film.

I'm amazed by what Kate put herself through for this.

[Kate 64]

I saw it on it's first release yesterday. And it whas better then I expected. The story and the fx where very good. And the little screen time Kate had whas quality. And I just love this 20's 30's and 40's setting.

[sara thomas]

i saw it yesterday
and i can tell you i wasn't that exited for a movie in a long time
it's realy worth watching , i didn't even noticed that it was 3 hours
and the other thing i like about this movie that it wasn't like an other action/drama/thriller etc. movie . it was just real people playing real people adn they did a great job
The scenes with kate where very nice, when she was on screen you could see that she one hell of an actress and i think that if her role was a bit bigger she defenatly would be nominated for a golden globe
Leo was also very good i must say , before i saw this movie i didn't liked him at all, because he realy had this kinda boy image, but now he's good (i kinda like him now )

[RoRy]

absolutley loved it!
Leos performance was awsome! (i still rathers johnny depps)...i never really liked hughes....but he somehow got him to look like a good guy
Kate was outstanding in her rather short appearance...i dunno why so many ppl are taking it againts her...i dunno much about ava gardner...but as far as i do know...she did a great job!...so leave poor kate alone!
...and most amazing of all was cate blanchette i do agree with bacall there...although i thought it was a little overeacted katherine....i think she should win the oscar