The Amazing Howard Hughes

There's just no comparison between this excellent made-for-TV movie and the awful soap opera Aviator. And talk about casting... HRH was a long, tall (over 6') Texan with a southern drawl. So who does Scorsese pick? A short, blond, blue-eyed kid - di Caprio. On the other hand, Tommy Lee Jones was right on. Looked like Hughes, sounded like Hughes, etc, etc. Oh, and Ed Flanders was MUCH more believable in the role of Noah Dietrich than John Reilly.

Both NetFlix and Blockbuster.com have it. If you prefer a chic flick with lots of romance and stories that focus about the women in his life, then Aviator wins. But if you really want to know about HRH, the Las Vegas acquisitions, the Glomar Explorer, etc, then The Amazing Howard Hughes is a far better choice.

that just about sums up this compelling portrayal of Howard Hughes. William Graham's direction presents a ruthless, cold and single-minded world of Hughes the entrepreneur. However, for all Hughes' shortcomings when relating to others, Graham allows Tommy Lee Jones to reveal the multi-billionaire had a heart of gold. Whereas people surrounding Hughes saw the coldness he projected, often to their own personal cost, Hughes would repay kindness in ways they never dreamt of.

Such was the enigmatic nature of Hughes and his story has been told countless times by book or film the exact truth is never likely to be known as to the reasoning behind his complex and often contradictory actions. In his lifetime Hughes made fortunes in many ways, although the fact that his massive wealth was initially inherited is not glossed over. Nor are some of the more bizarre practises Hughes utilised - such as hiring people to sit by a telephone that would never ring; or the highly imaginative pointed sacking of a film director by sending the unfortunate man on a location hunt only to remove the entire film set, cast, crew, props, the lot, during the director's absence!!

This work is well acted by Jones and the supporting cast. If you are looking to find out for the first time about one of the world's richest ever men then this is a good place to start as any. Effectively, this turns into a celluloid biography. You'll be fascinated by Hughes' pragmatic working methods but after seeing this its doubtful you'll come away liking the man. Graham's careful direction shows its not hard to see why once someone has accrued such vast wealth (to the point where money almost has no meaning) it becomes harder and harder to trust the people around you. On that basis its possible to see where Hughes' personal life fell apart, how he failed in love, and even to feel a tad of sympathy for him!

This film is outstanding on all levels covered all of Hughes' life which is surprising for a t.v. movie.

Don't ever look for any movie t.v. or not to tell the full story of anyones life.This film was done at a time when there was actually(URGH)truth and balance in media.

I saw this movie with the limited opinion that he was just some nut case and came away with the opinion that he was an extraordinary complicated man who let his ego get the better of him.

There is a message in this film for all of us and that is not to ignore your problems or difficulties.

I feel sorry for younger people who will never get the chance to see a biopic that would tell a persons story as accurately as they could.

At least not one that was made in this country and certainly not one that was done by Americans.

This film has been and will continue to be compared to "The Aviator" - a film that frankly bored me. "The Amazing Howard Hughes" looked and felt real because it focused upon Hughes as a real life flesh and blood man and used few if any cinematic tricks. Tommy Lee Jones made a very credible Howard Hughes from his physique down to his accent.

I am interested by the actual business dealings of Hughes and those around him rather than his marriages and affairs. Afterall, there have been many playboy millionaires in America's history but only one Howard Hughes. It wasn't the romances that made Hughes particularly interesting and this film didn't focus on them in the way "The Aviator" did. For me, this was a positive.

Tommy Lee Jones put himself squarely on the map as a far more convincing Howard Hughes than Leonardo diCaprio in Martin Scorsese's hopelessly romantic and shamelessly inaccurate 'The Aviator' (with Tovah Feldshuh nothing like the caricature Cate Blanchett made of Katherine Hepburn), while America's number one weirdo's final descent into madness in which the world's richest man ended his days as a bearded, kleenex-wielding shuffling skeleton ironically suffering from malnutrition is also far better depicted.

Hughes' most lasting contribution to film history was not actually the lousy movies he directed but as the back seat driver who wrecked RKO, a crime rarely even hinted at in the many films his antics inspired, but along with his reactionary politics should make his name live in infamy with all serious film buffs everywhere.