Ed Wood Review

Overall 4.50 of 5 view all 2 reviews

jmdobies
Austin, TX

Johnny Depp Leads Great Cast in Biopic of a Bad Filmmaker

a carnivore, a writer, Blogger, horror fan, forty something, a music lover, parent of two, psychotronic genius

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Pros

Depp's Performance, Landau's Lugosi, A Labor of Love for Tim Burton

SEP

2008

Ed Wood —

Number two in my Top Ten Johnny Depp Movies is Tim Burton's 1994 biopic Ed Wood, starring Depp as writer/director/tranvestite Edward D. Wood Jr., widely hailed as "The Worst Director of All-Time," auteur of such grade Z '50s "classics" as Glen or Glenda (a/k/a I Changed My Sex), Bride of the Monster, and his magnum opus, Plan 9 from Outer Space. A labor of love for director Burton, the movie celebrates the creative urge, and an artist overcoming all obstacles to achieve his vision, even if that vision involved grave-robbing zombies from outer space, and obsession with angora sweaters.

Shot in black & white, just like Wood's best-known films, Ed Wood, written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszwewski (The People Vs. Larry Flynt) is a biography that is also a comedy, just by sticking to the facts. Depp is completely winning in the title role, and the supporting players are equally fine. Martin Landau won an Oscar as Bela Lugosi, who was befriended by Wood late in his life, and featured in three of the writer-director's films. He is brilliant, heartbreaking and also very funny as the broken-down, drug-addicted horror icon. Bill Murray is hilarious as Bunny Breckenridge, a flamboyantly gay member of Wood's stock company of actors. Also in the cast are Sarah Jessica Parker, who does a great job as a bad actress who is also Ed's girlfriend until she gets fed up with him and his "weirdo friends;" Jeffrey Jones as the phony psychic Criswell; and George "The Animal" Steele as Tor Johnson. Also appearing in a cameo (with his voice dubbed by the guy from "Pinky and the Brain") is Vincent D'Onofrio as Orson Welles, who gives Ed a little career advice.

As a connisseur of "psychotronic" grade-Z cinema, I saw this movie on its opening weekend and enjoyed it immensely. While the film garnered good reviews and Oscar buzz, it didn't make as much money at the box office as Burton's other films (even Pee Wee's Big Adventure outgrossed it by a four-to-one margin). It has since gained a cult following, much like the subject of the film.

Available on DVD fromTouchstone/Disney Home Video.

Last edited on Sep 10, 2008