Ed Wood

As a big fan of Ed Wood's work, (more specifically: as a BAD movie buff), I must say it is great to see Edward D Wood, Jr. get some recognition for his hard (bad) work.

The movie has many inaccuracies, things such as the sequence of Wood's films, and other details of the movies. But in my mind the real life of Wood would not have made for a very good movie, so Tim Burton took some liberties. For a change this does not destroy a historical representation, but rather makes it easier to follow.

Last of all, the cast was excellent. Johnny Depp is one of the finest character actors in Hollywood today, and he managed to bring a warmth to a man who was, in real life, deeply, deeply disturbed. Depp was surrounded by many other fine actors, and the cameos by some of Wood's real life friends were a delight!

Although I had never heard of Ed Wood before hearing of this film, I now understand why anybody would even consider making a film about him. Even though branded as "the worst director of all time," Wood was refreshingly passionate about what he did. Of course, I can't really judge his work, but from what I saw in this movie I'm pretty sure that the critics are right about him.

But that's not the point of Ed Wood. Not at all. My favorite scene in the whole movie is the conversation between Wood and Orson Welles. One perhaps the best filmmaker of his time, the other a young, struggling filmmaker without experience or talent, but each knows what the other is going through. They have the same problems and the same ambitions. The fact that one is a genius and the other a total failure is only secondary.

The performances are all first-rate, starting with Depp and Landau and going all the way to the supporting cast which includes a great performance by Bill Murray. Opposing Ed Wood's statement that "filmmaking is not about the tiny details," Tim Burton gave us another great film filled with wonderful details.

The film does not go into detail about Wood's experiences prior to and after making his first films which is understandable when you make a little research on this very website.

This film made me curious about Ed Wood's work and maybe I'll get over myself and check out Plan 9 from Outer Space or Glen or Glenda.

8.5/10

It's appropriate that Tim Burton would direct this and even more appropriate that Johnny Depp would play the lead character as this story profiles an unusual subject: the worst director of films, perhaps, in Hollywood history....and one of its strangest characters.

As interesting as the story is, I found the black-and-white photography to be the best aspect of the film, but that's no surprise since Burton usually excels in making great visual films. Depp was hilarious as "Ed Wood." The eternal optimistic attitude and silly smile on his face in this film always makes me laugh and actually is inspiring in parts. You can't help but like poor Ed.

The most dramatic figure is Bela Lugosi, played memorably by Martin Landau, who deservedly won many awards for this performance. What a tragic figure.

To no surprise, there is a cheap shot against Baptists, who are made to look like meddling fools, something Hollywood loves to portray when it comes to any Christian character. Other than that, it's a fascinating film and portrait of a weirdo that only real-life weirdo Johnny Depp could do justice!

As one of the most overlooked films ever made, "Ed Wood" does for Tim Burton what "Malcolm X" did for Spike Lee and "JFK" did for Oliver Stone, it ruins any expectations one can have of Tim Burton, because he has set a standard here that he will never achieve again. An interest in the period in which it is set is essential, given the set decoration is the film's greatest triumph. It's not surprising that Burton's first "biopic" is about someone revered in the b-movie heyday of the 1950s - that spawned Burton himself. Burton must have felt he had to make this picture because without filmmakers like Ed Wood, Burton himself would have never existed. Set in seedy B-movie Hollywood in the mid 1950s - and wisely and beautifully shot in black-and-white, Johnny Depp plays the titular character; a young, talentless, but optimistic auteur who dreams of being a film director; going so far as to model himself after his idol, Orson Welles. Despite an over-reliance on stock footage, a tin ear for dialogue, and a fondness for wacky, exploitative horror and sci-fi fare, Wood wiggles his way into B-moviedom. Casting anyone willing to step before his camera, Wood cranks out a series of cheesy movies.

When he has a chance encounter with horror film legend Bela Lugosi, now a 74 year-old, foul-mouthed morphine addict wrecked by his lost fame, Ed sees his meal-ticket. Quick for his next fix, Lugosi doesn't seem to mind that Wood is also an out-and-proud transvestite with a particular fondness for Angora sweaters, and soon begins starring in Wood's features. Lugosi, played by Martin Landau, gives the story its biggest jolts of energy. Landau is hysterical in scene after scene utilizing the "dirty old man" routine. Remember, there is nothing funnier on earth than an old man who likes profanity. A gentle - albeit somewhat fictionalized - bond forms between Wood and Lugosi. Depp does a spectacular job of fleshing out Wood's quirky innocence and unbridled passion for moviemaking. This may also be the only Johnny Depp film where you actually see him smile!

What ultimately makes this film so stellar is the impeccable production and costume design and the crisp B&W cinematography; it literally transports you back to the clean-cut, wide-eyed days of the 1950s. I cannot recommend this film enough if you have an interest in the world of 1950s B-movies that produced titles like "Teenagers From Outer Space" and "Project Moonbase". This film functions quite well as a time warp. I liken "Ed Wood" to epics like "JFK" because like those films, this movie doesn't seem to be about what happens as much as how it FEELS to be there; and that's what draws me to the film every time I see it. With "Ed Wood", I'm not always interested in following the story, but I'm totally fascinated with being inside that world. Tim Burton did the best job that anyone could in taking you there.

I am a Johnny Depp fan, and this film only reinforced my enjoyment of his genuine talent. He's whatcha call a real actor. He's on record ("Inside the Actor's Studio" & elsewhere) as saying that his characterization of Wood was a mixture of "the blind optimism of Ronald Reagan, the enthusiasm of the Tin Man from 'The Wizard of Oz' (1939) and Casey Kasem." Well, I must add that either he left out channeling Jon Lovitz or that's where Lovitz got his inspiration, too. It is at moments positively eerie how well it works, and without feeling like Depp stole Lovitz's act--his overall character is so much more, so much else, that the Lovitz echo becomes a small part of a larger coherent whole, although it never disappears entirely.

Sarah Jessica Parker and Patricia Arquette as the principal women in Wood's life are each endearing and effective in their own separate ways. Bill Murray is fun as always, and the secondary and bit players are very well cast.

Martin Landau . . . well . . . Martin Landau simply left me awestruck. Depp is all over the screen doin' his best wacky movie guy and chewing the scenery, Parker, Arquette, Murray, and the rest are obviously having a real fun time backing him up, and Martin Landau is shuffling around in the foreground muttering in Romanian and writing a book called "How to Steal a Movie." Mind boggling performance, and absolutely deserving every award it got him in 1995, which included a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, Golden Globe and SAG Awards, and the American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture. (Incidentally, his daughter Juliet, better known to millions of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans as the vampire Drusilla, is one of the supporting players.)

If I weren't already a Tim Burton fan this movie would have made me one. He here makes an almost perfectly crafted period piece (anachronisms noted--see the "goofs" page--and dismissed), half cheesy fake scifi B movie and half period noir thriller, as a cinematic biography about the quintessential cheesy fake noir scifi thriller B movie guy. This film goes beyond pastiche, and beyond homage to a genre, although it is both. With this film Burton genuflects--no, prostrates himself--before the gods of 1950s low-budget black and white, and the gods are pleased indeed. It seems like he must have watched every movie made in America for under a million dollars between 1948 and 1962. I lost count of the echoes and parodies and pastiches and mini-homages that fill, I think, every darn frame of the movie, and which by no means are mostly of Wood and his work.

As with, I think, every movie biography, there's the odd gratuitous fact changing (see the "goofs" page again)--you know, the "Why'd they do that when the truth wouldn't make any difference?" kind of stuff, and as glowing as this review obviously is I must also say that it is in some ways an imperfect film--it glosses over Wood's later career, for example. But it it so obviously a labor of love and joy for all involved that in my opinion its imperfections are inconsequential. Ed Wood stands proudly, with that slightly odd gleam in its eye, with the best movie biographies made.