Ed Wood review.
Tim Burton released his masterpiece thirty years ago today. A celebration of the passion of filmmaking…and one of the funniest movies ever made.
Classic movie reviews will contain spoilers.
Ed Wood
Directed by Tim Burton
Screenplay by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski
Starring Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia Arquette, Jeffrey Jones, Bill Murray and Lisa Marie
Ed Wood Review
The first time I saw Ed Wood I fell asleep. In my defense, it was the second part of a double feature at a high school sleepover. The next day my friend told me that I had to give it a full watch. He said that when he got on the movie’s wavelength, it became an incredible movie. As I was 15 or 16 years old at the time…I ignored this advice for years. It was a true act of defiance given the level of esteem I held director Tim Burton in. This was the man who had given us Beetlejuice, Batman and Edward Scissorhands! Not to mention Pee-wee’s Big Adventure! Somehow this black and white biopic of some D-list filmmaker wasn’t calling out to me. I look back on that time now and can’t help but laugh. Teenage me was missing out on Tim Burton’s masterpiece.
By the time I finally gave Ed Wood another try I had seen his own magnum opus, Plan 9 From Outer Space. The same friend had suggested we watch it…his interest no doubt peaked by actually finishing his viewing of Ed Wood. It didn’t help me to understand why the man who made Plan 9 would make for an entertaining movie. Tim Burton understood. He connected to Wood in a way that no one could have seen coming. Burton could easily put himself in the shoes of what he saw as a misunderstood artist struggling to make his art. Burton, himself, was on a string of great successes when he made Ed Wood. He still viewed himself as an outsider working to get his visions in front of an audience.
Ed Wood was a commercial flop. The first of Burton’s career. Critics were much kinder. It even took home two Oscars. One for Best Makeup…and another for Martin Landau’s supporting performance. Landau plays horror icon Bela Lugosi in the final years of his life. Johnny Depp would have to settle for a Golden Globe nomination. He lost to Hugh Grant. Like Burton, Depp’s finest work can be found in Ed Wood. He plays the man with a geniality that pops off the screen. He takes Wood from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm. Enthusiasm that hilariously fails to infect the people he works with.
That contrast is part of why Ed Wood works so well. Everyone who comes into Wood’s circle gets there through either deep career failure or being so untalented this is the best they can do. Wood smiles through every questionable directing decision as most of his cast and crew eyerolls their way through a place that they can’t believe they ended up. Burton establishes himself as firmly on Wood’s side. Making movies is a gift. Who cares if you make the worst one of all time?
The structure of Ed Wood builds to its big climactic triumph…the premiere of Wood’s notorious Plan 9 From Outer Space. This is Ed’s big night. The one he’s going to be remembered for, he proudly exclaims. Burton isn’t mocking him…though the movie is plenty entertaining if you wish to view it that way. The way the movie frames Wood tells you what Burton thinks. He admires Wood for fighting for his vision and getting it on a screen in front of people. And he thinks we should too.
Burton assembles an incredible cast to assist Depp and Landau. Sarah Jessica Parker and Patricia Arquette portray his two love interests. They represent the pressures of his chosen field and the acceptance he craves, respectively. Bill Murray, Lisa Marie, George “The Animal” Steele are perfectly cast in memorable supporting roles. Vincent D’Onofrio cameos as Orsen Wells for a fictional conversation with Wood. It’s another inspired choice. The director of arguably the greatest movie of all time is presented as an equal to the director of arguably the worst. To Burton, making art is what matters. He’s far less interested in how it is received.
Ideas like these are what keeps Ed Wood flowing at a fast pace. The comedy is what makes it one of the best movies of the last three decades. That thing my friend said about finding its wavelength? He was completely right. When I finally watched the film after years of dragging my feet…it was very funny. When I watched it a second time (after no where near as long a wait), it was even funnier. Whenever I revisit Ed Wood now? I find every single line in it to be funny. The movie doesn’t miss. It has a unique sense of humor and keeps that tone going throughout the entire show.
We know that Ed Wood is going to fail. Burton’s argument is that he didn’t. Watching Wood’s positivity train keep productions on track that will go down in history as disasters is an amusing premise. Burton, Depp and company find a new layer for it. There is a level of joke in us knowing that Wood is excited about projects that won’t be fondly remembered. There is another in the droll reactions to those around Wood who are often embarrassed by the whole thing. But the joke is never on Wood. Ultimately, it’s on decades of dismissing his work as garbage. Burton wants us to know how much Wood cared about his projects…how deeply he believed in them. Getting them made is an unqualified success. Who are we to tell him otherwise?
Scare Value
Once you get fully on its wavelength…every line in Ed Wood becomes hilarious. It’s a remarkable comedic achievement lead by Johnny Depp’s career best performance. Burton connects with Wood in a way that only an artist who feels he’s misunderstood can. Turning the story of a man often deemed the worst director of all time into a triumph of the creative spirit is a masterstroke. The cast is perfect. The script is too. One of the funniest movies ever made.
5/5
Ed Wood Links
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Buy on Blu-Ray from Amazon
