Best Pictures #72: 2020 (93rd) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee: Mank

 by A.J. 

Best Pictures #72: 2020 (93rd) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

Mank

“What writer failed to notice the Screen Writers Guild needs an apostrophe?”

At first glance, Mank seems like a movie I would very much enjoy, and, if I’m being honest, probably be lenient towards. It is a combination of all of my favorite movie things: it is a movie about making movies, about a writer, set in classic Hollywood, depicting real life figures and events, and directed by a modern master filmmaker. The only thing it is missing for me is a role for Judy Greer or Natalie Portman or Anne Hathaway. Specifically, Mank is about the screenwriter Herman J.Mankiewicz and his professional and personal experiences working in Hollywood in the 1930’s that led to him to write Citizen Kane. The master filmmaker is David Fincher (Seven, Fight Club, Zodiac, The Social Network). I believe he is one of the truly great directors working today, but Mank does not come close to measuring up. Mank is not a bad movie at all, but it is an underwhelming one. 

Mank opens with a conventional biopic setup. Having recently broken his leg in a car accident, semi-washed up, semi-alcoholic Herman Mankiewicz, referred to by everyone—and quite frequently—as Mank, is taken to a bungalow to recover, dry out, and write a screenplay for the highly anticipated film debut of Broadway and radio wunderkind Orson Welles. An English typist played by Lily Collins is assigned to take dictation and as Mankiewicz works, he reflects on his past. 

The “present” of Mank is 1940, but the bulk of the film takes place in flashbacks to Mankiewicz’s days as a contract writer for the studio system in the 1930’s. Gary Oldman (now in his early 60’s) plays Mankiewicz in 1940 (when Mankiewicz was in his early 40’s) and also in the flashbacks (when Mankiewicz was in his 30’s). The age difference between the actor and the character is worth noting because it means that Oldman is always in makeup or shadow or peculiar lighting. No matter where we are in the timeline, Mankiewicz always feels like a weary soul. Gary Oldman is without a doubt one of the most versatile actors, capable of disappearing into a role (with or without the aid of makeup and costumes). He does a fine job playing the principled, semi-alcoholic writer whose talents are for his craft, not the social and political side of Hollywood. Just like everything else in the movie, Oldman’s work is adequate and neither sinks nor saves the movie.

Mank is filled with inaccuracies that go beyond the usual dramatic license you expect from a movie based on a true story. This is bound to frustrate those familiar with the events and people depicted and leave those that aren’t familiar with the wrong impression. It is well known that the main character of Citizen Kane is based, in part, on newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, who was very involved in Hollywood to bolster the career of his girlfriend/mistress, Marion Davies (Amanda Seyfried). It is also true that the Hollywood studios created fake newsreels for the 1934 California gubernatorial election to derail the campaign of progressive Democratic candidate Upton Sinclair and swing the election to the Republican candidate. There is little to no evidence that Mankiewicz found himself at the center of the studio executives’ election scheme or that he wrote Citizen Kane as a shot at Hearst for the part he played in producing the fake newsreels. The screenplay, written by Jack Fincher, director David’s father, seems to take its cues regarding the writing of Citizen Kane from the largely discredited essay “Raising Kane” written by Pauline Kael, in which she claims that Orson Welles played no part in the writing of Citizen Kane and simply added his name to the screenplay.

I was really disappointed by the attention paid to Mankiewicz’s friendship with Marion Davies and her portrayal overall. Of course, Davies was more than just the actress turned trophy girl of a rich man, but she has only a few scenes, one of which of which gives her no lines. I did not get a real sense of her as a person or her friendship with Mankiewicz. Amanda Seyfried has earned a Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her performance as Davies; I wish I had seen what the Academy saw.

Screenwriters do not usually get A-level biopics—I can’t remember any aside from Trumbo, another lackluster movie. I’m glad that Mank turned the spotlight from Welles to Mankiewicz, even if the film is less interesting than its subject. Hopefully Mank inspires its audience to learn more about the writer, his work, and the at times unsavory, but nonetheless interesting, behind-the-scenes of classic Hollywood.

P.S.

You will find a fuller but still incomplete portrayal of Marion Davies and her relationship with Hearst in the films RKO 281 and The Cat’s Meow. Those films also give a fuller picture of the seemingly unlimited power and influence of Hearst. Neither of those films has the heavy-duty credentials of Mank, but they leave a deeper impression. 

Nominees: Ceán Chaffin, Eric Roth, Douglas Urbanski, producers

Director: David Fincher

Screenplay: Jack Fincher; 

Cast: Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins

Production Companies: Netflix International Pictures, Flying Studio, Panic Pictures, Blue Light

Distributor: Netflix

Release Date: November 13th, 2020

Total Nominations: 10, including Best Picture

Other Nominations: Actor-Gary Oldman; Supporting Actress-Amanda Seyfried; Director-David Fincher; Cinematography-Erik Messerschmidt; Costume Design-Trish Summerville; Makeup and Hairstyling-Gigi Williams, Kimberley Spiteri, Colleen LaBaff; Original Score-Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross; Production Design-Donald Graham Burt (production design), Jan Pascale (set decoration); Sound-Ren Klyce,Jeremy Molod, David Parker, Nathan Nance, Drew Kunin