So many Tim Burton movies have great ideas and beautiful visuals, but somehow go a little flat in the telling. For example, BIG FISH had some great things to look at, along with some fun performances...but in the end it was too pleased with itself to make an emotional impact and the ending was muddled. BATMAN was a visual and acting delight as well, but had absolutely no suspense because the action sequences were dull...it was clearly not what interested Burton, but it meant the movie never got the pulse racing. SLEEPY HOLLOW, with a quirky Johnny Depp performance, again never achieved any real suspense because it was too busy dwelling on cool sets and sweeping camera angles. Burton is the master of visual flair, but he sometimes lets the "fun" of a good story get forgotten in all his fussiness.

ED WOOD, I'm very happy to say, does not fall into this trap. It's one of Buron's best two or three films (I'm thinking EDWARD SCISSORHANDS and SWEENEY TODD belong up there too.) He's helped by having a story packed with off-the-wall (but real) characters, just like he loves. Ed Wood, universally acknowledged as the worst director ever, is brilliantly played by Depp. He brings an ebullience to the part, a joyful cluelessness, that really makes it work, and also shows how Wood didn't quite get the fact that he had NO TALENT!

In fact, the "theme" of the film is how fame, however fleeting and undeserved, is a drug that can eat away at the soul. But at the same time, creating "art" is a drug that can enliven and enrich the soul of the creator. Burton has chosen the perfect subjects to illuminate this theme...and the story itself is so rich that the theme doesn't need to be hammered in...it's baked right into the tale.

We basically follow Wood and his troupe through the making of his three "greatest" films...GLEN OR GLENDA, BRIDE OF THE MONSTER and PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. We see how Wood attracted investors, how every scene only needed to be shot once, because it was "perfect" and how Wood's personal obsession with cross-dressing and Angora sweaters affected his "art." But mostly we see his funny and very touching relationship with Bela Lugosi, a sad old man past the end of his career and near the end of his life.

Unlike so many Burton films, we actually feel real pain and emotion from the brilliant Martin Landau as Lugosi. His pain at being a "has-been" and a drug addict is palpable. His thick Hungarian accent drips with anguish and self-awareness. Lugosi is enfeebled, but his mind is always lively enough to appreciate what a wretch he has become. As for Ed Wood, he is just so thrilled to be close to a "star" that he creates the most ludicrous dialogue and characters for Lugosi...but eventually we see that Wood truly sees Lugosi as a friend too. A hero. Their scenes together are always interesting...and Landau steals every moment of the scene's he's in. His Oscar win was richly deserved.

If you're a fan of Woods' bad movies, you'll really like the incredibly faithful reproductions of scenes from his films, particularly PLAN 9. It's obvious that while Burton, Depp and the rest certainly realize how bad the movies were, they also understand how making those films was a small break from the sad realities of life for the crew that made them.

As I said...Depp is very good in the film. He's a huge bundle of energy and vocal tics. His head is constantly nodding and shaking at the same time, as he's forced to compromise his "ideals" again and again and again. I've heard it suggested that Depp should have been nominated for an Oscar for the part...but as much as I like him in the role, I can't quite agree. It's a very mannered performance...trying to be realistic and also evoke some of the bad acting of the films that Woods made. In later life, Woods became a big alcoholic and the maker of soft-core adult movies. He obviously had a dark side, but Depp has pretty much chosen to leave that out. It's not a BAD choice, but it limits our connection with Woods as a real person just a little. I appreciate that Depp felt that he needed to make us see how Wood could possibly have looked at his own films and thought they were good...but it makes Wood teeter just slightly towards caricature.

The supporting cast is very good. Bill Murray is droll, and also has the single best line in the movie. That line is the word "Sure." You'll have to see the film to get it, but you'll know just what I mean. Sarah Jessica Parker and Patricia Arquette are quite fine.

The film, in lovely black and white, is a humdinger. It's rated "R" for some outbursts of very coarse language (pretty much all from Lugosi) which are very funny. In general, the movie is not for kids. And if you can possibly see PLAN 9 before ED WOOD, I would recommend it. It gives you all the context you need! Enjoy!!!


Recommended: Yes