I’m on a quest to watch as many award nominees and winner right now as possible and, of course, Mank was at the top of that list, much as it was at the top of the Academy Award lists. Mind you, it got plenty of Golden Globe nods too, but the more I read about GG the less stock I put in those, so…
First off, this movie is a long, sedately paced, black and white talkie about old timey Tinseltown and its power players. Which is to say it isn’t for everyone. It doesn’t have the universal easy appeal. But then again, it doesn’t need to. Not with the Fincher pedigree. It is in fact a double Fincher pedigree, the script was written by Jack Fincher, David’s late father, who passed away years ago, so it must have taken a minute to make this one. And it’s paid off, the production is absolutely lavish. I’m all for color in movies, but this is gorgeous enough that after a while you forget you ever needed it. The pacing was tougher to get used to, but the script itself is quite excellent, actually, with some terrific lines and several strikingly good monologues, especially…especially the Mank’s court jester one. For those unfamiliar with the plot, the movie chronicles the writing of Citizen Kane as contracted by the wunderkind of the time Orson Welles and done by the booze soaked Mankiewicz (or familiarly the eponymous Mank). Mank exuberantly brought to life by the ever talented Gary Oldman is a portly alcoholic whose internal moral compass is too finely tuned for the business he’s in. Or so it seems. It isn’t that he’s the most moral man in Tinseltown, but he lets his conscience in the driving seat more often than most. It doesn’t play well for him. But then he gets this one chance to prove himself and he writes the best thing he’s ever written…but it’s also a thinly veiled criticism of the powers that be and that’s where the controversy comes in. It’s a compelling drama both in present and flashback times, representing not only the movie industry but its involvement with politics, there’s one great scene in there where they all discuss the current affairs (socialism, rise of the Nazis and more) and it’s such a telling look at the zeitgeist of the time and place. The casting is…well, it’s interesting. Gary Oldman has done so much, from numerous biopics to imaginary characters to legendary vampires, because he can do it all. Frankly, I’ve not yet seen his Winston, but from the screen images it’s easy to get the resemblance owning to some good make up. For some reason here this was deemed unnecessary. Outside of a certain portly build, Oldman looks absolutely nothing like Mank and it seems that no effort has been made in that direction at all. It’s almost as if they just decided to rely on star power and talent alone. Which would have been fine, or at least less noticeable, if not for the rest of the cast…mostly a bunch of talented nobodies and near nobodies who bear striking resemblance to their real life characters. It also stands to mention that during the bulk of the movie Mank is 43 with some flashbacks to his 30s and he is played by the unaltered 63 year old and kinda looking it Oldman. And yes, I know people aged earlier back in the day, especially heavy alcoholics, but still… This is a personal thing, mind you. I believe that biopics should do their best to represent the real life people as accurately as possible. Some do it, some like this movie or First Man, don’t and go with…but look at our star. And Oldman certainly deserves looking at, he’s excellent in it, might even snag another Oscar for it. But still…it distracts. Especially with how young of a wife they cast for him. Anyway, Amanda Seyfried does very well as a Betty Boopesque ingenue who isn’t quite as ditzy as she plays and certainly knows which side her bread’s buttered on. Charles Dance mostly towers and glares, good thing Papa Lannister can glare so expertly, menacingly, patiently, enigmatically…he doesn’t even need many lines. Mank’s gal friday is too insubstantial of an actress still and not just for her gossamer like physical appearance. The rest of the cast is all excellent, no small roles here. And that Orson Welles booming baritone is a perfection. BUt what the mentality behind that casting must have been like…you look right, you look right, you need some make up and you’ll look right and you…well, you’re Gary Oldman. So if you’re in a mood for a good slow drama about a good and drunk man who hoisted himself with his own highly moral/vengeance tinged petard all for one striking win and a slow fade into nothing, look no further. Definitely an Oscar material, at least as much as movies about old (and younger) white men can be in an all white cast in this day and age. Oldman must just collect those, like wives. Anyway, this wraps up the review of a good movie about the making of a great movie.
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