Mank Review

 

Mank is a biographical drama film. The movie is produced by Netflix International Pictures and distributed by Netflix. Mank is written by Jack Fincher and directed by David Fincher.

The story is Herman J. Mankiewicz has written a screenplay titled Citizen Kane. He's happy but that moment is brief when he realizes that things in the script will anger a lot of people. Now Mank must fight for not only screen credit but for this story to be viewed on the big screen.

Initial Reaction

Now I was looking forward to this movie simply because David Fincher was directing. But when I heard it was going to be about the behind the scenes drama regrading Citizen Kane I got even more excited. Because it's always interesting to see filmmakers tell stories about what was going behind the scenes of movies that are called the best ones or the greatest movies ever made.

Cons

I've got nothing to say. Let's move on.

Middle Ground

I've got nothing to say. Let's move on.

Pros

One great thing about this film is Gary Oldman's performance. He's so great that he literally disappears into Mank. I mean it. I didn't even recognize him. What also made the movie so much fun to watch was those small bits of humor. No this isn't a full blown comedy what I mean is there a few scenes that do a good job cracking a joke. There's this scene at MGM regrading budget cuts that was just awesome. Another aspect of Mank that was great is the production design. Very similar to Ed Wood not only is the movie in black and white because of the time period it's in but you also get the look/feel that you're back in 1930s Hollywood. What also makes the movie great was David Fincher's directing. Once again this guy doesn't disappoint. You get so many great and beautiful shots and you'll just want to stare at a lot of them because they look so great. The last thing I'll praise Mank for is how it gives us a great insight in not only the production of Citizen Kane but what Mank was going through at that. Time we see how feels about people telling him how the script should be done, we see the things that inspired him to write it, and his overall reason for writing it the way he did.

I recommend you watch Mank. It has a great performance from Gary Oldman, the bits of humor were amusing, the production design is great, Fincher's directing was really good, and I loved the insight of what was going on when Mank was written the screenplay.

My final rating is A Must Watch

Okay, that's all for me. Due come back on Saturday, Dec 5th for my review of Songbird. Until then enjoy the rest of your day.