MARTIN Scorsese will almost certainly win the Oscar that has eluded him for his efforts behind the camera on The Aviator. Not because he truly deserves the honour for this long cherished biopic of Howard Hughes, but because it is inconceivable that the director of Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas should have been overlooked all these years.

There are undoubtedly moments of directorial brilliance in The Aviator, which border on the sublime: a dizzying recreation of the filming of Hughes' airborne epic Hell's Angels, a stomach-churning plane crash in Beverly Hills.

Unfortunately, great swathes of Scorsese's film are also plodding and emotionally barren. But then, how do you shine a light on a man who remains a beguiling enigma almost 30 years after his death?

Screenwriter John Logan focuses on the glory years of the compulsive-obsessive, millionaire industrialist. In particular, he focuses on Hughes' life between 1928 and 1947, when Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio) became famous for his romantic dalliances with leading ladies Katharine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett), Ava Gardner (Kate Beckinsale) and Jean Harlow (Gwen Stefani).

The film also deals with Hughes's costly attempts to build the world'slargest aircraft, Spruce Goose, and his legendary run-ins with Senator Owen Brewster (Alan Alda), who dragged the mogul before a congressional hearing to answer charges of war profiteering.

Running to a smidgen under three hours but feeling considerably longer, The Aviator is a handsome, if somewhat ungainly, beast.

Scorsese's love of the golden age of Hollywood shines brightly in every frame, through his painstaking recreation of the sights and sounds of the era.

The scenes in the famed Coconut Grove nightclub (including a fleeting cameo for Jude Law as Errol Flynn) are particularly gorgeous, with musical accompaniment from Loudon Wainwright III and his talented offspring Rufusand Martha.

Production design, courtesy of the maestro Dante Ferretti, is sumptuous,complemented by Sandy Powell's costumes and Robert Richardson's beautiful cinematography.

DiCaprio is incredibly assured as the tormented mogul but it's hard to sympathise with his character when so much is left unsaid. Blanchett is utterly mesmerising, capturing the clipped speech patterns and swagger of Hepburn.

Whenever her rebellious starlet struts purposefully into shot, the film steadily gains altitude.Strong supporting turns from Alda, Baldwin and John C Reilly, playing Hughes's problem-solving lackey Noah Dietrich, also lighten the stodgy second half of the picture.