‘You cannot capture a man’s entire life in two hours…’
As has been discussed in far more worthy websites than this one, Hollywood loves a film about itself. David Fincher directing a black and white portrayal of the making of Citizen Kane had Best Picture nomination written all over it. But then, this isn’t a film about Citizen Kane, not really. Instead, Mank is a character study about what it takes to be successful and a love letter to the golden era of Hollywood. It’s also not as good as it thinks it is…
Racing against the clock and his own alcoholism, Herman ‘Mank’ Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman) has just weeks to finish writing the screenplay to Citizen Kane – the movie that is widely accepted as being the greatest of all time. Helping him through this difficult process are Citizen Kane director Orson Welles (Tom Burke), actress and muse Marion Davies (Amanda Seyfried) and Mank’s long suffering wife Sara (Tuppence Middleton).
First off, as is befitting perhaps the most talented director of his generation, Mank is absolutely gorgeous looking. The sweeping black and white and stark use of lighting and shadow hark back to the days when everyone talked really fast and Jimmy Stewart was king. Unsurprisingly, Oldman fits perfectly into this aesthetic, and he embodies Mankiewicz in the same way that he embodied Churchill. No mean feat for two such disparate characters. The rest of the cast put in a shift too with Seyfiend enchanting and Middleton suitably frustrated at her husband’s constant drinking. Elsewhere, Burke is terrific if a little underused as Welles and Charles Dance even pops up at the end playing that same angry man he always plays – it’s all good fun.
The problem then is not with technicality but with heart. At times, watching Mank is like the equivalent of watching a virtuoso guitar player begin his 15th solo in a row, it’s technical ability for technical abilities sake. I came out of Mank feeling more educated about the man at the centre of this biopic, but that was pretty much all I felt. The whole thing just came off a little… cold.
Mank won’t win Best Picture, and in a normal year I’m not convinced it would even have been nominated, but for Fincher completists or fans of the Golden Age of Hollywood, there is still plenty to enjoy here. For everyone else? Watch Promising Young Woman or The Father instead…