Subject: REVIEW: ED WOOD

From: [email-masked] (Jeffrey Graebner)
Date: Wed, 5 Oct 1994 14:24:52 GMT

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				    ED WOOD
		       A film review by Jeffrey Graebner
			Copyright 1994 Jeffrey Graebner

     One of the most unusual aspects of the film industry is the
fondness that some people feel for some of the worst that the industry
has to offer.  That aspect is most vividly demonstrated by the cult
following of the amazingly inept films written and directed by Edward
Wood Jr.  Ironically, director Tim Burton tells Wood's story in one of
the best films of 1994.

     Burton's film, which is simply titled ED WOOD, is centered around
the friendship between Wood (Johnny Depp) and an aging, washed-up Bela
Lugosi (Martin Landau).  The film also follows the making of Wood's
three most legendary films: GLEN OR GLENDA?, BRIDE OF THE MONSTER, and
PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE.  In the process, we are introduced to many of
the bizarre individuals who populated Wood's films and his life.  Among
the people we meet are Swedish wrestler Tor Johnson (George "The
Animal" Steele), would-be transsexual Bunny Breckinridge (Bill
Murray), phony psychic Criswell (Jeffrey Jones), and TV horror movie
hostess Vampira (Lisa Marie).

     If these characters had been created for a fictional film, nobody
ever would have believed them.  This movie is mostly non-fiction,
though, and we are therefore more inclined to accept them.
Screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski have wisely written
most of the film as a comedy, recognizing that it is difficult to take
these people too seriously.  This is a *very* funny movie, but the
comedy never seems mean-spirited.  Burton and the writers allow the
humor to build naturally.  A lot of inherent humor comes out of the
image of a cross-dressing film director shooting ineptly conceived
scenes with a bizarre cast of non-actors.  There is no need to
artificially create humor through put-downs and this script is smart
enough to know that.

     At the heart of the film is the surprisingly touching relationship
that builds between Ed Wood and Bela Lugosi.  When Wood meets Lugosi,
he is a bitter, dying old man who is hopelessly addicted to morphine.
He is flattered by the fact that Wood still remembers, and even admires
him.  Lugosi is able to use his faded stardom to provide Wood with a
small link to legitimacy while Wood allows him to live out his final
days as a working actor.  Depp and Landau play very well together and
really make this relationship work.

     Johnny Depp first demonstrated some skill as an actor in Burton's
EDWARD SCISSORHANDS and Burton gets another strong performance out of
him here.  Some may feel that Depp goes over the top a bit with this
performance, but how else could Ed Wood be played?  Depp plays Wood as
a man who is totally committed to his art, while also being mostly
unaware of his lack of talent. The script places quite a bit of
emphasis on Wood's admiration for Orson Welles.  In his own strange
way, Wood is simply emulating his idol.  Depp's performance
successfully captures the dedication that separates Wood's films from
most other bad movies.  It is hard not to feel some affection towards
his films simply because of their utter *sincerity*.  When Wood shouts
"Cut! That was *perfect*!" at the end of every lousy take, you truly
believe that he means it.

     Martin Landau's performance as Bela Lugosi is so right on the mark
that the Academy should go ahead and engrave his name on the Best
Supporting Actor award statue now.  Landau manages to sound, behave,
and even look (with a little help from Rick Baker's makeup effects)
like the real Lugosi.  His performance is much more than just an
impersonation, though.  He plays Lugosi as a sad, proud man who simply
wants to get back into the limelight that he once knew. It is an
outstanding performance.

     Wood is not portrayed as a saint, by any means.  He is willing to
do whatever it takes to get his films made.  He is very quick to agree
to casting people in his films if they are willing to put up money.
His GLEN OR GLENDA? co-star and girlfriend Dolores Fuller (Sarah
Jessica Parker) eventually leaves him after she is replaced for the
lead role in BRIDE OF THE MONSTER by another actress who helps with
financing.  Her willingness to still appear in a tiny role in the film
shows the unusual loyalty that Wood inspired, though.

     The film is full of other strong supporting performances.  Each of
the actors playing the members of Wood's regular acting company are
very convincing.  Bill Murray is the most familiar face in the cast and
it is sometimes a bit difficult to see Bunny Breckinridge instead of
Bill Murray, but he is still very appealing and generates a lot of
laughs.  Parker believably portrays Fuller's uncertain loyalties and
Patricia Arquette does her best in a rather thankless role as the
future Mrs. Ed Wood.

     Like all of Tim Burton's films, the production design and style
plays a very major role in ED WOOD.  Burton selected to shoot this film
in black and white and lights the movie to largely match the look of Ed
Wood's own films. Howard Shore's score also does a nice job of
duplicating the music commonly used in that era, although there were a
few occasions where it sounded a bit like Shore was borrowing the style
of Burton's usual collaborator Danny Elfman.

     ED WOOD is a loving tribute to one of the strangest filmmakers in
the history of Hollywood.  It is one of the funniest movies in recent
memory, while never letting the laughs get in the way of telling the
story of the unique friendship between Wood and Lugosi.  This is one of
the best films ever made about filmmaking and one of the best movies of
1994.

-- 
Jeffrey P. Graebner
Columbus, Ohio