Ed Wood DVD > Reviews > Ed-cellent

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Standard
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	Fantastic script, acting, and direction .
Disadvantages:	None

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Castigating Monster’s Ball was undoubtedly a pleasant experience, giving me the chance to air grievances I’ve buried for nearly 12 months, but it had the unfortunate effect of reminding me just how mindblowingly bad the movie had been, and that I’d paid the best part of a fiver to see it. Depressed by this reminder, I decided I needed cheering up, and shoved one of my favourite films of all time into the video. Needless to say, it did the job perfectly.

For those of you who’ve never heard of the eponymous Wood, this is a biopic of a director whose vision was as great as that of Spielberg, but whose talent was closer to that of a below-average high school student. The film concentrates on his early career, including films such as ‘Glen or Glenda’ and ‘Plan 9 From Outer Space.’ However, while it’s a faithful representation of Ed’s life at this point, the film is much more than this – essentially, it’s a buddy movie about the friendship between Ed and his most famous star, Bela Lugosi. When Ed meets the original screen Dracula early in the film, Lugosi is trying out coffins, a drug addict who is resigned to dying soon. Wood, to whom Lugosi is a hero, fuels him to attempt a comeback, giving Ed a star he thinks is bankable enough to propel him into the major league.

Of course, as most people reading this will know, essentially Wood was a failure. He never achieved box office success, although he has become something of a cult figure in recent years, especially since ‘Plan 9…’ was voted the worst ever movie in a 90’s poll. Likewise, Lugosi’s morphine addiction stopped him from ever hitting the heights he’d reached in 1931 with the seminal vampire film. But this is a heroic failure. Towards the end of the film, Ed meets another hero of his, Orson Welles. Stupefied by the presence of his idol, Ed nevertheless goes across to introduce himself, telling Welles that like him, he directs, and acts – does everything. Does Welles believe him? The viewer is left unsure as to whether he takes the younger man seriously, or is just humouring him. But the legendary filmmaker appears, at least, to agree, and talks to Ed as an equal, and for this moment, at least, no-one can doubt that Ed is indeed as successful as he has always dreamed of being. As for Lugosi, he achieves brief moments of happiness, probably more in the short time he knew Wood than in the years between Dracula and meeting him.

In some ways, the writers and director of Ed Wood had it easy – Wood’s bizarre life, basing films around old stock footage, and going to war in bra and panties, practically begged for a film to be made of it. Full credit, though, must go to Burton. Many directors in the mid-90’s would no doubt have either ignored Wood’s being a transvestite completely, or treated it as a disgusting fetish. In Burton’s hand, it’s merely a foible of Ed’s character, and is treated with sympathy, but never allowed to overshadow his raison d’etre, to make movies. In a similar vein, the decision to stop with Plan 9, and not to venture into Wood’s later soft-porn career, help to imbue him with a warmth which perhaps he didn’t completely have in real life, but which makes him a more sympathetic character.

If the story and script is good, though, it’s the performances from the stellar cast which make this movie truly great. The supporting cast, including Sex and the City’s Sarah Jessica Parker years before she became famous, Patricia Arquette, and wrestler George ‘The Animal’ Steele, ranges from good to very good, but three performances truly stand out. The first is Bill Murray, whose portrayal of Bunny Breckinridge, one of Wood’s entourage, who wants to have a sex change operation, is miles away from his jaded and cynical characters in Groundhog Day and Scrooged, and far better. Murray brings true pathos to the predicament of his character, standing out as one of the most unhappy of a group of misfits. Depp’s Wood, though, is even better, rivalling his role in Don Juan De Marco as the performance of his career. The hopeless optimistic who has such an uplifting effect on his motley crew of cast offs comes to life in the actor’s skilful hands, especially in his scenes at Lugosi’s hospital bedside, and the aforementioned talk with Welles. The star, for me, though is not Depp, great though his performance is, but rather Landau, who imbues the grumpy, cynical, and frightened Lugosi with anger, fear, self-pity, and a real sense of tragedy. When he rages at a member of the film crew who dares reminisce about his arch rival, Boris Karloff, you can feel his disgust, and when he gives his wonderful speech on the sidewalk towards the end of the movie, you see a glimpse of the talent of the real Lugosi in his prime, evoked one last time.

All in all, I can’t recommend this movie enough. Burton, along with a wonderful cast and crew has created a warm-hearted, funny, and moving tribute to a loveable loser who deserves to be known as a true hero of cinema, if only for inspiring people who thought "If HE can do it, so can I!"