I saw this film and was impressed (even though it has recieved mixed reviews). It is one of the best films I saw in 2004. Both Leonardo and Kate Blanchett were excellent. I wasn't that familiar with the story of Hughes, so I found the film quite interesting. I never knew he had a relationship with Katherine Hepburn. Also, little Faith D.(from This Island Earth) was his teen mistress!
The part many critics found dull was actually one of the most interesting parts for me; the part where Maine Senator Brewster, acting in league with the head of PAN AM, tries to deny Hughes and TWA a right to run flights to Europe. It really does showcase how corrupt and in bed some politicians are with big business.
The film features some lavish production values such as the set for the twenties Art-Deco nightclub. The show stopper is definately the crash of Hughes plane into a Beverly Hills neighborhood. It was one of the most spectacular and convincing plane crashes I've seen on film. I thought Hughes would walk out of it unscathed, instead he was nearly killed and burned over 70% of his body. That would explain his addiction to pain killers later in his life.
The depiction of Hughes mental illness was a bit more problematic for me. It's hard to tell if he's delusional or just has an extreme case of OCD. If he was alive today, his OCD could be controlled by medication. It did seem to be a bit implausible that he snapped back to such mental sharpness during the hearing.
I wish that the film didn't end at 1946, and had gone into the later part of Hughes' life, when he went completely over the edge. Specifically the 1970's, when he was never seen in public. There was a conference call between Hughes and a select group of reporters in 1972. One of the issues addressed was allegations of Hughes' bizarre appearance at that time, with long hair and a long beard.
He owned a print of Ice Station Zebra, which he would watch ad nauseum in his private screening room, while stark naked. Supposedly, he was suffering from OCD, and if modern medicine was available then, it could have been treated easily. Hughes died in 1976, an underweight shell of his former self.
It really does showcase how corrupt and in bed some politicians are with big business.
Some???
The famous conference call was made to question Mr. Hughes about the "biography" by Clifford Irving that was circulating at that time, and was proven to be fake. Of course a movie has been made about that story - The Hoax. More on that here.
Warren Beatty. who has had his own Howard Hughes project in the works for some four decades, has finally put it on celluloid. It's titled Rules Don't Apply, and a review can be read here.