Subject: REVIEW: ED WOOD

From: [email-masked] (Matthew Springer)
Date: Mon, 3 Oct 1994 13:10:23 GMT

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				     ED WOOD
		       A film review by Matthew Springer
			Copyright 1994 Matthew Springer

     Tim Burton has finally found a film to which his unique talents as
a filmmaker can be perfectly wed: ED WOOD.

     If you've seen and been disappointed by Burton's work in the past
as I have, then you'll thrill to this biopic of B-movie director Edward
D. Wood, Jr., whose credits include GLEN OR GLENDA? and PLAN 9 FROM
OUTER SPACE," widely regarded as some of the worst films of all time.
Wood is also known for surrounding himself with people as strange as he
himself was, such as former horror film star Bela Lugosi, whose
relationship with Wood is at the heart of ED WOOD.

     I've often thought of the problems in Burton's past films as a
battle between screenplay and director; his gifts are such that they
often can stifle an otherwise good script.  In this case, I think the
script was ideally suited to his directing style, and the marriage
between director and screenplay a perfect one.  Burton has hit a peak
as a director with this film; he invokes emotions in this film that I
would have thought him incapable of understanding, let alone conveying
on celluloid.

     Burton is also aided by an extremely talented team of actors, led
by Johnny Depp in a virtuoso performance as the title character and
Martin Landau as Lugosi.  It's clear that Landau deserves an automatic
Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for this performance; the battle
between him and Robert Downey, Jr., for his insane and sharp portrayal
of Wayne Gale in NATURAL BORN KILLERS should be an especially bloody
one.

     Also not to be overlooked are Sarah Jessica Parker as Dolores
Fuller, Wood's first wife who in the end leaves him because she is
incapable of understanding his friends and lifestyle; Jeffrey Jones as
Criswell the Seer, a false psychic who lands roles as narrator in
several Wood films; and Bill Murray in an insanely funny, but small
role as Bunny Breckenrige, a homosexual actor who longs to become a
woman.  His small work alone is enough to warrant seeing this film;
it's a credit to the cast that a performance that hilariously
over-the-top can be lost amidst such other fine work.

     In the end, what makes ED WOOD fabulous is the humanity which it
reveals in its characters.  All of them are obviously freaks, but just
when the audience seems about to realize it and begin to laugh too much
at them, Burton gives us a glimpse of these people as human beings that
brings us right back to square one.  This is especially seen in the
Wood/Lugosi relationship; it would have been easy to play Lugosi just
for laughs (and lines like "Karloff isn't worthy to smell my s---!"
certainly make this clear), but Burton chooses instead to develop this
father-son relationship to the fullest, with the roles of father and
son being reversed by the time Lugosi has died.

     All in all, ED WOOD is a must-see.  It showcases Burton's
abilities as director to the fullest, while still allowing him to
expand those abilities in new directions.  It features an incredible
ensemble of actors who deliver amazing performances; none seem weak or
miscast.  And it recreates some of the laughingly bad moments in Wood's
actual films down to the letter.  Whether you're a fan of Wood's unique
talents or have never heard of him, you'll get a kick out of this
movie.

Matthew Springer
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.   USA
[email-masked]