Nutshell Review: Mank (2020)Director: David Fincher
Written by: Jack Fincher Starring: Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Lilly Collins, Arliss Howard Released by: Netflix IMDB Rating: 7.0 I would like to start off by saying that I enjoyed David Fincher's Netflix film about Citizen Kane co-writer Herman J. Mankiewicz. Gary Oldman's performance as Herman J. Mankiewicz, known as Mank, was wonderful & the beautiful black & white photography by Erik Messerschmidt evoked the classic Hollywood era when the story took place. The screenplay, by Fincher's father Jack Fincher, however, is at least 26 years old, and hasn't aged as well as the stories around the making of Orson Welles' classic film, Citizen Kane. Sadly, I look as Mank as a missed opportunity. An opportunity to show the most interesting aspects of Herman J. Mankiewicz; the witty asides while a member of the famed Algonquin Round Table, the genesis of his self-loathing as a lowly screenwriter, his interactions with some of the greatest writers in American history during the early thirties, each would have been more interesting than the hobbled misfit we see in Mank. The man was a genius who graduated from Columbia at 19 & the story of his life as one of regret is only hinted at near the end of Mank. An opportunity missed was to explore the actual creation of the Citizen Kane script; the pre-ranch interaction between Welles & Mankiewicz where the 2 men traded ideas that formed the germ of the story, followed by the back & forth editing at Mank's house, after his time at the ranch, where Welles & Mank sculpted the script & the impact Welles had on the script while shooting, all would have been more interesting than the truncated version of the script's creation. Similarly, the most dramatic episode in American filmmaking history happened during the ellipsis between Mank turning over the script & his sharing his Oscar with Welles. |
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William Randolph Hearst & his minions, including Hollywood gossip columnists Luella Parson & Hedda Hopper, worked to first shelve the film, then destroy it & finally severely curtailed its release. An opportunity was missed to illustrate the actual battle between art & commerce in Hollywood that is only teased in the fictional portion of Mank's involvement in the MGM efforts to squelch Upton Sinclair's election campaign in 1934.
Sadly, these & more opportunities were wasted to essentially recant a debunked essay from 1971, written by Pauline Kael, in which she ascribed primary responsibility for Kane's script to Mankiewicz. Welles was not the raving lunatic shown in Jack Fincher’s version, he was an artist set up to fail by great expectations. An outsider in a closed town. Sure Welles' must shoulder some of the blame for funneling all discussions about authorship back to himself, but he more than paid the price for the legend of Citizen Kane's initial failure.
Unfortunately, the missed opportunities would have been another film altogether, but some form of those ideas was what I was hoping for. Without expectations, enjoy Mank for what it is, an enjoyable, flawed & ultimately fictional story about a flawed man, who touched greatness for a fleeting moment. Herman J. Mankiewicz should be better known & if the film helps bring his name to more folks then I'm happy about that.
Sadly, these & more opportunities were wasted to essentially recant a debunked essay from 1971, written by Pauline Kael, in which she ascribed primary responsibility for Kane's script to Mankiewicz. Welles was not the raving lunatic shown in Jack Fincher’s version, he was an artist set up to fail by great expectations. An outsider in a closed town. Sure Welles' must shoulder some of the blame for funneling all discussions about authorship back to himself, but he more than paid the price for the legend of Citizen Kane's initial failure.
Unfortunately, the missed opportunities would have been another film altogether, but some form of those ideas was what I was hoping for. Without expectations, enjoy Mank for what it is, an enjoyable, flawed & ultimately fictional story about a flawed man, who touched greatness for a fleeting moment. Herman J. Mankiewicz should be better known & if the film helps bring his name to more folks then I'm happy about that.