A biopic depicting the life of filmmaker and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes from 1927 to 1947, during which time he became a successful film producer and an aviation magnate, while simultaneously growing more unstable due to severe obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Ratings
Curator score: 6.9/10
IMDb: 7.5/10
Letterboxd: 3.75/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 86%
Metacritic: 77
TMDB: 7.2/10
Director
Martin Scorsese
Production
Warner Bros. Pictures, Miramax, Initial Entertainment Group, Forward Pass, Appian Way, IMF
Cast
Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reilly, Alec Baldwin, Alan Alda, Ian Holm, Danny Huston, Gwen Stefani, Jude Law, Adam Scott, Matt Ross, Kelli Garner, Frances Conroy, Brent Spiner, Stanley DeSantis, Edward Herrmann, Willem Dafoe, Kenneth Welsh, J.C. MacKenzie
Where to watch
fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, MGM Plus
Curator Review
Verdict
A grand, stylish biopic that turns Howard Hughes into both a mythic American striver and a tragic case study in control, obsession, and collapse. It’s long and occasionally overstuffed, but the scale, period detail, and formal confidence make it one of Scorsese’s most immersive films.
Best for
Viewers who like prestige biopics with epic scope
Fans of movies about ambition, wealth, and self-destruction
People who enjoy meticulous period production design and cinematography
Scorsese admirers looking for a more classical, old-Hollywood register
Skip if
You want a compact, fast-moving biography
You dislike long runtimes and sprawling ensemble storytelling
You prefer emotionally intimate character studies over grand historical canvases
You’re not interested in obsessive behavior, mental decline, or industry politics
Overview
The Aviator is one of those biopics that feels less like a life story than a feverish portrait of American excess. Scorsese frames Howard Hughes as a man who can build empires, make movies, and fly higher than anyone else, yet cannot build a stable self. The result is both glamorous and sad, a study of success curdling into compulsion.
Worth noting
What gives the film its force is the way it keeps shifting scale: boardrooms, soundstages, airfields, and private breakdowns all feel equally consequential. The production design and cinematography do a lot of heavy lifting, but the movie’s real engine is its sense of momentum, as if invention and self-destruction are the same impulse.
Bottom line
It is also, in a very Scorsese way, a movie about performance and control. Hughes tries to master the future, the press, the studio system, and his own body, and the film makes clear how fragile that project is. Long, yes, but rarely dull; it has the sweep of a classic studio epic with the unease of a psychological tragedy.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Josh Lewis (4★) · 2375 likes
Solid movie about an extremely normal guy just being a cool dude. Flying planes, dating teenagers, drinking milk, making movies, taking about titties and llamas, having crippling disorders (that can be traced to visions of American success ingrained in childhood) exacerbated by an industry and culture that celebrates wealth and "progress" above anything else.
Silent J (5★) · 1784 likes
The way of the future...The way of the future...The way of the future...The way of the future...The way of the future...The way of the future...The way of the future...The way of the future...The way of the (SLAP)
*problem solved*
Patrick Willems (4★) · 1713 likes
The plane crash in The Aviator >>> the bear attack in The Revenant
demi adejuyigbe (4★) · 1602 likes
I feel like the movie uses both Howard's OCD and wealth for great effect without delving into the explanation/development of how either became such a crucial part of his life, and that's a little frustrating to me– but god, what a film! Nobody makes a breezy three hours like Scorsese. The ending breaks my heart. Also the first moment of the movie is them spelling and saying "quarantine" repeatedly. It was so unexpected we screamed. Who'da thunk the movie about the reclusive billionaire germaphobe would be hittin different right now.
Amy Andrews (4★) · 1217 likes
This film is good.
But it's long as a motherfucker.
2013 · Crime, Drama, Comedy · 3h · R · Curator 7.9/10 (5.7M ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, AMC+, Philo, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Another exuberant Scorsese ascent-and-collapse story about appetite, excess, and the machinery of success.