Welcome to Movie Monday! Each week we will look at a movie either in theaters or available to stream by a major streamer. We will briefly review the movie, and tell you why it is enjoyable. This isn’t meant to be a detailed criticism, rather, a celebration of why a movie is entertaining or worth the watch. We will typically avoid spoilers, but if there are any, we will denote that clearly before it appears in the review. This week we’ll look at The Aviator, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
The Aviator isn’t known to be the very best work of Martin Scorsese, and that’s fair. However, this movie stands out to me, as an underrated performance from Leonardo DiCaprio.
DiCaprio plays Howard Hughes, who was known for building some of the most capable, and fastest planes of his generation.
Hughes was a complicated character to play, as beside his brilliance, he struggled with his own mind, known for being a recluse, OCD, and paranoid. DiCaprio does a phenomenal job bringing this to life. He weaves back and forth between the intelligence of building dominant aircrafts, and the madness going on in his own mind.
His struggles to keep the important people in his life close are highlighted, and it makes you feel bad that his character just can’t seem to find himself. The film itself has some interesting pacing as it too, goes back and forth between the action of becoming innovative in the air, to a person that is fighting his own demons.
Again, not necessarily the best we’ve seen from Scorsese, but I think still well worth the watch, if only for the DiCaprio performance and the throwback in time to one of the world’s most used travel innovations.
The Aviator is currently available to stream on Pluto TV.
