The Aviator
(Dec. 17)REAL PERSON Howard Hughes, the pilot and dashing playboy who turned a modest inheritance into an entertainment and business empire before descending into morphine addiction and mental illness
PLAYED BY Leonardo DiCaprio
THE REEL PERSON Forget the creepy, long-fingernailed old hermit of lore; ''The Aviator'' focuses on the charming younger Hughes, who wooed the likes of Katharine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett) and Ava Gardner (Kate Beckinsale). The movie focuses on the billionaire's heyday (the late 1920s through the 1940s) and its attendant Hollywood glitz (at one point Hughes owned RKO Pictures), though there are glimpses of the obsessive behavior that ultimately derailed his life.
