ED WOOD
A film review by Chad Polenz
Copyright 1997 Chad Polenz
*** (out of 4 = good) 1994,, R, 124 minutes [2 hours, 4 minutes] [satire] starring: Johnny Depp (Ed Wood), Martin Landou (Bela Lugosi), Sarah Jessica Parker (Delores Wood), written by Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski, produced by Denise Di Novi, Tim Burton, directed by Tim Burton.
Did you ever wonder who made those bad sci-fi/horror movies they show at 2 a.m. that also end up being ridiculed on "Mystery Science Theater 3000"? Well Edward D. Wood Jr. is the man responsible for starting an entire industry of bad movies, unfortunately he never really saw it that way, and "Ed Wood" is a good satirical portrait of his life.
Ed Wood was a man so in love with the filmmaking process itself he didn't care if things went wrong, the script was terrible, or the props were fake. To him, it's not about scrutiny, it's about the joy of the movies and as long as people are having fun nothing else matters. Johnny Depp is excellent as the quite neurotic, obsessive, cross-dressing Ed Wood. He starts his showbusiness career by taking on projects no one else will touch, with stories so terrible it's a wonder they're even thought up. He writes his own scripts, does all the casting, and even manages to raise the money to make the movies himself.
But Ed has a heart, he knows who the respected people in the business are like Orson Wells, and feels the need to succeed as his role models have done. One day, he stumbles upon Bela Lugosi (Landou), a symbolic character in films of these types. He's a morphine addict, and thinks he's still a huge star but can't accept the fact he's a wash-up. Lugosi is going broke, but much like Ed, he is so in love with film he'll take any job just to work. It's obvious we are meant to feel for the pathetic old man, but the attitude of the film isn't some type of sappy melodrama, it is a satire through and through.
Even Ed's home life is portrayed in a very satirical and funny manner, as a parody of 50s sit-coms. The dialogue is so over-the-top it's hard to tell what's scripted and what's improvised.
There is a fair amount of events and actions going on in this movie, yet there is no specific plot, just the adventures of Ed Wood. We see him pitch his ideas and not understand how anyone couldn't like anything shown to them on a screen. He actually believes the audience is scared by his monsters and aliens, and he is going to win an Oscar for his work. Ed and his crew aren't even discouraged when they are attacked by an angry mob of frustrated movie-goers!
Finally Ed embarks on the infamous "Plan 9 From Outer Space," a film so bad and so stupid it's almost brilliant. One of the final scenes depicts the opening night of "Plan 9" and we can see the excitement bristling in Ed's eyes. His face is so lit up with joy he is in ecstasy just watching the picture... it's both pathetic and funny.
I liked "Ed Wood" even though there wasn't much to it. It has a great sense of mood and is very clever overall. Why did he make all those bad movies anyway? The good thing about this film is that it doesn't try to answer that question (6/4/96) (1/18/97) (6/11/97) [see also: "Barton Fink," also by Burton: "Batman"]
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