Movie #2121 "Mank" (netflix) Looking for something different to watch? This might be your cup of tea, but it is not for everybody at all. If you have seen "Citizen Kane," and liked it, you probably will observe and appreciate the homages to that film in almost every scene in "Mank.". If you don't mind black and white, and even value it as a possible artistry of a film, then you might like this. If you don't mind watching fast talking smarmy writers vs. holier- than- thou, power- hungry producers who force their values on their work force and "stable" of actors, then you might enjoy this. Of course, this would be nominated for an academy award this year ---- it is a weak year in film; it is about Hollywood itself; the artistry is , do I dare say it?, almost as good as the film it is about.........."Citizen Kane." If you have seen that film and think "no big deal," don't bother with this. I think "Kane" is a masterpiece in every sense of the word -- I respect it greatly, so I wanted to like this film, but I had to start it a couple of times. It is a challenging watch --- one needs to watch it intently, something I don't do a lot of these days. I loved all the tech stuff --- the lighting, the edits a la Kane, props --- but there is something about the Kane script -- it is multilayered, like this one, but it is mapped out much better than this one, in my opinion. Kane's script has branches, but they are all aimed for that socko ending --- it never loses its way --- like this one does at times. It's ironic that the script about writing one of the best scripts in Hollywood isn't that good of a script. In thinking about why Kane's script works well, I have to say that having the film center around a pretty plain idea ---- an interviewer searching for clues to the puzzle of what this Kane guy is like --- is probably what works best. But all the tech stuff -- ie, creativity in editing and camera angles and shots, using newsreels, putting in dancing girls, using montages, etc. kick the plain documentary style frame up a notch --- but it is that frame that holds a multilayered/flashbackfull script in line ---- and because that frame is missing here in "Mank," it's all over the place to me. But it is about a rebel with a cause --- to dethrone those in power in Hollywood. And that's the biggest reason that Hollywood would like this film, and that's why it has the most nominations for the Academy Awards, but I don't think many of you would like it. I give it 3.5 out of 5.
"MANK" 2 hours, 11 minutes R 2020
1930's Hollywood is reevaluated through the eyes of scathing social critic and alcoholic screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz as he races to finish the screenplay of Citizen Kane (1941).
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