The Aviator

The Aviator is a 2004 American biographical drama film, directed by Martin Scorsese, and based largely on the book Howard Hughes: The Secret Life by Charles Higham. It tells the story of the eccentric aviation pioneer Howard Hughes, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, following his life from the late 1920s through the 1940s, a time when Hughes was directing and producing Hollywood movies as well as test-piloting his own groundbreaking new aircraft. The film also illustrates Hughes' descent into severe obsessive-compulsive disorder and reclusiveness. The Aviator has no opening credits other than the title. The film begins with nine-year old Hughes being bathed by his mother, who warns him of disease: "You are not safe." The film next shows him in 1927, as a 22-year old preparing to direct Hell's Angels. Hiring Noah Dietrich (John C. Reilly) to run Hughes Tool Co, while he oversees the flight sequences for the film, Hughes becomes obsessesed with shooting the film realistically, even re... full article at wikipedia