MANK (2020)

Not since AMADEUS/’84 has an acclaimed period piece been such hogwash.  David Fincher, missing critical objectivity working off a decades old passion-project script by his late father Jack (his sole credit), takes another look at the trials & tribulations of getting CITIZEN KANE to the screen, focusing on Herman Mankiewicz’s original screenplay.  A topic long & drearily debated, even after it was sorted out (in the ‘70s!) after critic Pauline Kael ascribed too much credit to Mank, an accreditation throughly debunked by Robert L. Carringer.  Truth is, that’s neither here nor there as far as this film’s troubles go.  Those stem from its motivational motor, a fanciful claim that ties KANE’s skewering of newspaper magnate W.R. Hearst and movie star mistress Marion Davies to Mank’s outrage over tactics used by Hollywood moguls to defeat Socialist Gubernatorial candidate Upton Sinclair in 1934.  Truth is, that’s neither here nor there as far as this film’s troubles go.  Those stem from Fincher’s inorganic stylistic flourishes with old-time Hollywood looks & sound.  (1930s flashbacks with ‘40s Big Band Swing just the tip of the iceberg.)  Truth is, that’s neither here nor there as far as this film’s troubles go.  Those stem from Father Fincher’s habit of indiscriminately loading in famous Hollywood tales without concern for proper time, place or source.  Mank’s kid brother, writer/producer/director Joseph Mankiewicz gets a doozy: Kicked out of M-G-M for making a pun about producer Mervyn LeRoy going over budget on THE WIZARD OF OZ.*   This isn’t storytelling, it’s name-dropping.  And, be it noted, a year after KANE, Mank had his biggest commercial success (plus an Oscar® nom) with PRIDE OF THE YANKEES/’42.  Two years after KANE, uncredited work on THE HUMAN COMEDY, a pet project of M-G-M chief Louis B. Mayer.  All while drinking himself to death.  Fortunately, there’s a good cast: Gary Oldman, better as Mank than he was as Winston Churchill*; and a touching combination of cunning & simplicity from Amanda Seyfried as Marion Davies.  (But why drop her famous stutter?  Davies, terrified of the Talkies, found she didn’t stutter at all on dialogue.)

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *Joe was still producing at M-G-M years after OZ. . . maybe because no one ‘got’ his witty gag.  The Finchers miss it, too.  Tweaking Mervyn LeRoy with LE ROI S'AMUSE refers to the Victor Hugo play (later Verdi’s RIGOLETTO).  Other inside jokes similarly blunted.

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: *Heck, Oldman wasn’t even the best Churchill that year.

DOUBLE-BILL: Naturally, CITIZEN KANE/’41.  As Pauline Kael correctly pointed out in her article, it’s more fun than just about any other ‘great’ film.  And if Welles made deeper, richer pics later on, none had the narrative thrust Mank’s ROSEBUD gave KANE thru simple Pop psychology.