ReelBob: ‘Mank’ ★★★★
By Bob Bloom
“Mank” is a time capsule, an examination of 1930s Hollywood when Los Angeles was a company town — and the company was the movie industry.
The film, in glorious black and white, looks at the era through the alcoholic prism of Herman J. Mankiewicz, one of the preeminent screenwriters of the day; a man with a scathing, razor-sharp wit that spared no one, including the most powerful people in the industry.
The main thrust of “Mank” is his creation of the screenplay for 24-year-old wunderkind Orson Welles, brought to la la land from New York and given carte blanche by struggling RKO Pictures to make whatever movie he wants — without any studio interference.
Welles asks Mankiewicz — at the time down on his luck — to write his movie. The result, as most cineastes know, became “Citizen Kane.”
“Mank,” directed by David Fincher from a script by his father, Jack, examines how Mankiewicz’s interactions with the rich and powerful — most notably, newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst (a haughty Charles Dance), MGM studio boss Louis B. Mayer (Arliss Howard) and Hearst’s longtime mistress, actress Marion Davies (Amanda Seyfried).
Fincher tells the tale like a screenplay come to life, with screen notations to flashback sequences in which we see Mankiewicz’s industry dealings that helped shape his story.
“Mank” has the feel of a “Golden Age” Hollywood production. It utilizes slow camera sweeps and pans by cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt, complemented by a lush musical score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
“Mank” is riveting, thanks to the performance of Gary Oldman as Mankiewicz. Oldman creates a man who drips with sarcasm and caustic wit. He makes pointed observations that irk Mayer and Hearst, deflating them like a jester tweaking the nobles at court.
Oldman also reveals a self-reflective individual who knows that he is not liked and that his combination of booze and jibes are costing him his career.
Oldman displays a man conflicted, knowing that the Welles project could be his last hurrah in Hollywood.
Isolated in an out-of-the-way lodging outside Victorville, California, Mank is given a young English stenographer and nurse, ostensibly to curb his drinking.
Welles gives Mank a deadline — 60 days to get him a script.
“Mank” is interesting because it examines the moral conundrum facing the writer. He was a regular at San Simeon, Hearst and Davies’ estate, and he genuinely liked Davies. He tolerated Hearst for his liquor, just as he put up with Mayer because he signed the checks.
Mankiewicz had no qualms about skewering Hearst in the screenplay as the thinly veiled Charles Foster Kane. And he assuages his guilt about the character of Susan Alexander, Kane’s mistress and later wife, by denying any resemblance to Davies.
As Davies, Seyfried offers a memorable performance. Most of the time she hides her intelligence and keen observations, especially when Hearst has guests at San Simeon, behind a facade of jokes and frivolity.
Seyfried displays a Davies who knows her place and, more importantly, what outsiders think of her. She likes Mank, confiding in him about her life. She neither feels betrayed nor is upset after reading a copy of the “Kane” script. Her only emotion is concern for her friend.
Oldman and Seyfried deserve Academy Award nominations for their portrayals.
Originally, Mankiewicz signed a contract with Welles in which he waived his rights to a screen credit. But, after many people, including his younger brother, Joe (Tom Pelphrey), tell Mank that the script is the best he has ever written, he clashes with Welles and ultimately shares the writing credit with the filmmaker.
“Mank” also delves into Hollywood’s efforts to quash the movie, with Hearst and Mayer pressuring Mank to drop the script — then, trying to bury the project by offering RKO money to sell it.
“Citizen Kane” received nine Academy Award nominations, winning just one — for its script by Mankiewicz and Welles.
“Mank” is a movie that film buffs will devour, while those not that versed in the stories about the making of “Citizen Kane” will still find compelling.
It is a fascinating and entertaining movie that also will give you a better appreciation of Mankiewicz’s contributions to cinema history. It also is one of the best films of the year.
The movie, which is having a limited theatrical run, debuts Friday, Dec. 4, on Netflix.
I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.
MANK
4 stars out of 4
(R), language