David Thomson on Scorsese's Aviator--

"That is why it's so hard to sell the story of Howard Hughes. He was a downer; he preferred not to in the end. But it wasn't just that he agreed that there are no second acts in American history. No, he said, there are second acts--and they are as prolonged, as inert and vacant, as the best medical research can manage. He left most of his money to medicine, don't forget, and I suspect that was because he'd guessed how that unending second act of life barely sustained was our just reward. So I encourage the kids to carry on oblivious of Howard Hughes. He is not for you. That way lies dismay, the thoughts that fill the early hours of any morning when the drug has worn off, or the times of day when no one can believe in just being American any longer."