Saw The Aviator this weekend, the movie about Howard Hughes.

The story takes you from Hughes’s childhood through the flight of the Spruce Goose (which now resides in my home state of Oregon). I won’t get too much into the story, since it is a biopic, but it is a fascinating trip.

I wasn’t too hopeful considering I’m not a big Leo DiCaprio fan, but Howard Hughes is a very intriguing figure to me. By the end of the movie, DiCaprio was Howard Hughes. Not to mention Cate Blanchett does a great job as Katharine Hepburn, and how can you deny the draw of Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner?

The cool thing is, this movie was good from any standpoint you take: historian, aviation fan, or drama lover. There’s something for everyone here. A great historic story, some wonderful airplane history and information, and a beautiful story.

The effects were also well done; seeing them build and fly the Spruce Goose was almost like being there. I’ve never actually seen it in real life; seeing as how it’s local, I am now absolutely convinced I need to visit.

Check it out; this one’s well worth the money to see, and with the size of the plane Hughes built, how can you not see it on the big screen?