10 Best Leonardo DiCaprio Movies Of All Time

The Aviator would mark the second of DiCaprio's more critically lauded films. Released in 2004, DiCaprio stars as Howard Hughes, the eccentric billionaire who was both an aviation pioneer and film producer.

It was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, including Best Actor for DiCaprio. Hughes was a highly individual man, known these days for his innovative approach to aviation, his ownership of RKO pictures (distributor of Citizen Kane among many others) and the string of high profile affairs he had. DiCaprio captures both his roguish nature and his dogged determination to achieve greatness.

While it may not be in the first breath of the biggest films of DiCaprio's career, it is a very important milestone for him. It would be his first time nominated for Best Actor at the Academy Awards, though of course it wouldn't be his last.

He was into his renaissance period when he took on this role. He still may have been viewed as that lovely artist who went down with the boat, yet The Aviator proved that he was capable of carrying a strong dramatic film. He acts alongside Cate Blanchett who is now and was then one of the most talented actors in Hollywood, and manages to hold his own. In the space of the film's runtime, he goes from Tony Stark-esque playboy to a broken and failing man, cut down in his youth. He pulls it off with grace.