Lisa Johnson Mandell’s Mank review says it’s the kind of glamorous Hollywood biopic Oscar voters adore, but is a little too self absorbed for the rest of us.

Big names, lots of money, glamorous subject matter, how can you go wrong? The Netflix Oscar hopeful Mank didn’t exactly go wrong—there are some glorious moments within. It just didn’t go as right as it could have.

It’s the story of the birth of one of the greatest movies of all time, Orson Wells’ Citizen Kane, told from the perspective of its notorious, scathing witted screenwriter, Herman J. Mankiewicz, played with silver tongued elan by Gary Oldman (the go-to guy for period bios). But it’s also about 1930’s Hollywood, from Mank’s sardonic, alcohol soaked perspective.

Of course you can’t tell that story in beautiful black and white without including tres colorful characters like Orson Welles (Tom Burke), William Randolph Hearst (Charles Dance) and Marion Davies (Amanda Seyfried).

The film really comes alive when the focus is on the supporting characters. But Mank himself is too glib for his own good. He never utters a sentence without it being crucially quote worthy. You don’t really get the feeling that he was a real person, but rather a gin soaked repository for cunning quips. After awhile, his banter pummels rather than impresses.

Which is not to say that David Fincher’s directing is not superb, nor his father Jack Fincher’s script is not extraordinary (the senior Fincher wrote the script in the ’90’s, and passed away in 2003. His son David finally began work on the film in 2019). There are some marvelous segments — a dinner party at Hearst Castle, a stroll through the Hearst Zoo and a sun drenched picnic immediately to mind. They’ll take your breath away with their cinematic elegance.

But while there are many superlative LINES and extraordinary ACTING and PRODUCTION DESIGN that deserve all caps for their effect, the over two hour whole is not quite equal to the sum of its parts. It’s just too self-absorbed to truly absorb its audience.

Rated R

2 Hours 12 Minutes

If this Mank review convinces you that you should see it before the Oscars, catch it on Netflix.

Lisa Johnson Mandell’s Mank review says it’s the kind of glamorous Hollywood biopic Oscar voters adore, but is a little too self absorbed for the rest of us.