Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett and Kate Beckinsale in the Martin Scorsese movie ‘The Aviator’

An epic biographical drama of United States business magnate Howard Hughes as directed by Martin Scorsese captures our attention today. Starring an ensemble cast portraying the business, government and movie star classes throughout Hughes‘ life, The Aviator (2004) was written by John Logan for the movies to dramatize a view of Howard Hughes from the late 1920s through the middle 1940s.

(From left, John C. Reilly as Noah Dietrich and Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes in the Martin Scorsese movie The Aviator).

Starting with a foreshadowing for the path the Hughes story will take, The Aviator begins in 1913 Houston, Texas with 9-year-old Howard taught to fear the germs of of a cholera outbreak while bathed by his mother. Portrayed by Jacob Davich and Amy Sloan respectively, Howard‘s mother would have him spell quarantine. The stage was being set for the forming personality that would begin to be revealed to the audience with the 1927 film Hell’s Angels (1930) that Howard Hughes, now portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio, was directing.

(From left, Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes, Adam Scott as Johnny Meyer, Jude Law as Errol Flynn and Cate Blanchett as Katherine Hepburn in the Martin Scorsese movie The Aviator).

Noah Dietrich would begin managing the day-to-day business of the business empire that was growing for Hughes. It was upon seeing the movie The Jazz Singer (1927), a movie partially including sound, that Howard Hughes would begin reworking his movie to also include sound. Despite positive reviews without the sound, Hughes insisted upon bringing sound and realism to the movie in a manner that indicated an obsessive need to get there. Hughes became romantically involved with Katharine Hepburn during this period. Hepburn, as portrayed by Cate Blanchett, helped Hughes keep the symptoms of his obsessive-compulsive disorder in check.

(From left, Danny Huston as Jack Frye, Kelli Garner as Faith Domergue, Alec Baldwin as Juan Trippe, Emma Campbell as Helen Frye and Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes in the Martin Scorsese movie The Aviator).

It was in 1935 that we are introduced to the Hughes H-1 Racer. The introduction comes with Hughes setting a speed record and crash-landing the plane when it runs out of gas. On the heals of flying around the world in four days in 1938, we learn of Hughes purchasing the controlling interest of Transcontinental & Western Air (TWA), later renamed to Trans World Airlines. A rivalry develops from here with Pan Am (Pan American World Airways), Juan Trippe, and Maine Senator Ralph Owen Brewster. With Hepburn having moved on, Hughes would date Faith Domergue and Ava Gardner while maintaining feelings for Katharine Hepburn.

(From left, Ian Holm as Professor Fitz, Alan Alda as Senator Ralph Owen Brewster and Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner in the Martin Scorsese movie The Aviator).

With a series of new construction contracts for the American military in the works, with the Hughes XF-11 reconnaissance plane and the Hughes H-4 Hercules / Spruce Goose flying boat converging into false arguments against the Hughes companies. A crash in Beverly Hills, California and the expense of the other plane converge with the airline industry inquiries and fundamental issue in Howard Hughes‘ personal life that speak largely to the true partner Hughes had in Noah Dietrich.

(From left, director Martin Scorsese and actress Kate Beckinsale in the Martin Scorsese movie The Aviator).

Five Academy Award wins would be granted to The Aviator, which was filmed in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Received well by critics and moviegoers alike, the movie was based on the book Howard Hughes: The Secret Life by Charles Higham. The sets felt period appropriate with excellent flourishes of cinematography include. I grant The Aviator as directed by Martin Scorsese 4.25-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Wednesday, May 31, 2023

Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Val Kilmer in the Michael Mann movie ‘Heat’

An ensemble cast to rival ensemble casts starred in a Michael Mann movie noted for its action, crime and drama. Al Pacino and Robert De Niro starred opposite one another in the movie about crime, law enforcement and the effect these lifestyles have on love in the Los Angeles, California based movie Heat (1995).

(From left, Val Kilmer as Chris Shiherlis, Robert De Niro as Neil McCauley and Tom Sizemore as Michael Cheritto in the Michael Mann movie Heat).

The movie itself begins with professional thief Neil McCauley, as portrayed by Robert De Niro, robbing more than a million dollars of bearer bonds from an armored truck with a crew including Chris Shiherlis, Michael Cheritto, Trejo and Waingro, with the last being new to the crew. Waingro, McCauley and Cheritto each kill someone during the heist, which brings heat upon and within the crew in introducing important thematic elements that will run through the full scale of the movie. Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Danny Trejo and Kevin Gage portrayed Shiherlis, Cheritto, Trejo and Waingro, respectively.

(From left, Diane Venora as Justine Hanna and Al Pacino as Lieutenant Vincent Hanna in the Michael Mann movie Heat).

With the theft and homicides history, the Los Angeles Police Department investigates the crimes. Lieutenant Vincent Hanna, as portrayed by Al Pacino, assesses quickly that the robbery was well planned. We learn quickly that Hanna has a strained relationship with his third wife, Lauren, in addition to difficulty emotionally connecting with his stepdaughter, Lauren Gustafson. Justine Hanna and Lauren Gustafson were portrayed by Diane Venora and Natalie Portman, respectively.

(From left, Ashley Judd as Charlene Shiherlis, Amy Brenneman as Eady and Natalie Portman as Lauren Gustafson in the Michael Mann movie Heat).

Meanwhile, the instinct of professional thieves is to manage the reality or perception of heat in their professional or personal lives. We learn after the heist that Chris Shiherlis was having marital problems with Charlene Shiherlis, as portrayed by Ashley Judd. We see Neil McCauley take a romantic interest in Eady, a graphic designer much younger than he is yet worth a look. Meanwhile, McCauley has a direct interest in putting an end to provocative behavior from Waingro, which becomes an extended storyline for the movie. Amy Brenneman portrayed Eady.

(From left, Kevin Gage as Waingro, Jon Voight as Nate and William Fichtner as Roger Van Zant in the Michael Mann movie Heat).

These relationships simultaneously worsen, suggest potential redemption for, and called for enlightened coercion when McCauley and his fence aim to engage solutions to their criminal and personal problems. In the aftermath of the robbery, Roger Van Zant has his hands in part of McCauley’s criminal plays. As the original robbery victim; Van Zant, as portrayed by William Fichtner, winds up in contact with Nate, the fence, and Waingro with criminal plots in furtherance of the original robbery. Waingro’s plans are pointed more strictly at addressing the heat raised by his actions in and since the opening robbery. Jon Voight portrayed Nate. The ways that each of these threads pull upon one another in resolving the many storylines is well done.

(From left, writer, director and producer Michael Mann, actress Ashley Judd and actor Robert De Niro in support of the Michael Mann movie Heat).

While the movie, as reported by Rotten Tomatoes here, performed slightly better among audiences than critics, there is more to recommend the film than to detract from it overall. The intrigue throughout the story was masterfully done, with the reward landing in the showdown between stars that one had been hoping for from the beginning the show. My biggest complaint was in the final portrayal of the ending, which left me wanting something slightly more in the form rather than the portrayal or outcome of it. Given the largely masterful criminal drama movie, I grant Heat as written, directed and produced by Michael Mann 4.25-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Matt Damon, Christian Bale and the film ‘Ford v Ferrari’

It was avid car aficionado in the form of Lynn‘s West Virginia uncle who turned me on to the biopic film about the 1966 automobile race 24 Hours of Le Mans. This particular film, and the facts underpinning it, tells the story about the stranglehold that the Ferrari brand had on the race at the time as well as the battle Ford had in becoming relevant there for a four year stretch beginning in 1966. The film that addresses this contest is Ford v Ferrari (2019).

(From left, Matt Damon as Carroll Shelby and Tracy Letts as Henry Ford II in the film Ford v Ferrari).

The crux of the film starts around the time that the Ford Mustang as a vehicle was introduced, with Ford owner Henry Ford II (as played by Tracy Letts) making an overture to Ferrari owner Enzo Ferrari (as played by Remo Girone) to acquire the motor company owned by Ferrari, and being soundly rebuffed in a move to increase the sales price to Fiat. This led to a courting by Ford of Carroll Shelby (as played by Matt Damon) and Ken Miles (as played by Christian Bale).

(From left, Stefania Spampinato as Enzo Ferrari‘s English Translator and Remo Girone as Enzo Ferrari in the film Ford v Ferrari).

The means of being rebuffed by Enzo Ferrari opened, or perhaps revealed, an emotional rivalry between he and Henry Ford II that revealed some interesting dynamics in the way Ford was operated as a company. Lee Iacocca, as portrayed by Jon Bernthal, brought Carroll Shelby into the Ford company when Henry Ford II demanded engineers and money into the company to have the wherewithal to compete with Ferrari at Le Mans.

(From left, Jon Bernthal as Lee Iacocca and Corrado Invernizzi as Franco Gozzi in the film Ford v Ferrari).

The compelling notion of what worked in the movie Ford V Ferrari was first the racing story with the fortunes of two automobile companies at the center of it. Also there were the personalities within Ford, with Shelby and Miles as clearly outsiders to the corporate culture of the larger company. Iacocca was a bit of a middleman between that culture and the work getting done by Shelby and Miles.

(Josh Lucas as Leo Beebe in the film Ford v Ferrari).

Josh Lucas as Leo Beebe was the face of that corporate culture, and in many ways vilified for his role in how the 24 Hours of Le Mans came to a resolution in 1966. There was natural tension in his trusted role in Ford and the natural conflict that arose in holding the Shelby / Miles team to an account that also reflected on the public face of what Ford wished to project. Said another way, a story of Ford v Ferrari was the means for how mean with well-defined senses of self worth worked together. This came into play as well between Shelby and Miles, the both of them and Beebe, and the full lot of them and Henry Ford II with Iacocca in the middle. Ken Miles and his wife, Mollie Miles as portrayed by Caitriona Balfe, had their own form of intrigue as shown in Ford v Ferrari.

(From left, Caitriona Balfe as Mollie Miles and Christian Bale as Ken Miles in the film Ford v Ferrari).

I found the movie Ford v Ferrari both entertaining and interesting. There’s history in the telling, despite some clear fictionalized dramatization included for the sake of the telling. The fiction offered something that worked for me in this case, though there are some muscle car folks that might not agree. I rate Ford v Ferrari at 3.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Wednesday, July 15, 2020