#204: Ed Wood

If you don’t know who Edward D. Wood Jr. is, you haven’t watched enough terrible B-grade movies, which is probably a good thing. Films such as the classically horrible Plan 9 from Outer Space (along with its 3.6 rating) and Bride of the Monster were both directed by Wood. In addition with being unofficially named “The World's Worst Director,” Wood led a strange private life, which ended at the premature age of 54 in 1978 after a heart attack. Tim Burton takes the complex and bizarre story (and book “Nightmare of Ecstasy”) of Ed Wood to the big screen.

The plot revolves around Wood; his reasoning behind his atrocious films, his eccentric and bizarre personal life, and the people he surrounded himself with. Burton’s fingerprints are all over this film. His choice of shooting this in black and white was the correct decision, as it gives the film an eerie quality and brings life to the characters of the black and white era. Wood is played to creepy perfection by Johnny Depp, as he brings that certain Depp-quality weirdness to the Ed Wood character. As Wood becomes interested in directing a motion picture, he decides he needs a star to headline his films. Enter Bela Lugosi, the washed-up star of such classic horror films as Dracula. Lugosi and Wood become fast friends, initially out of need, but each has their own dirty little secret in their private lives which come to light as the film progresses. Martin Landau plays Lugosi to a ‘T’, the black and white color scheme working wonders to give him a very spooky aura. Landau’s efforts landed him a well-deserved Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. The troubled Lugosi was the most interesting element of the Wood saga to me. Wood has sympathy for the man Hollywood has forgotten, despite his shortcomings. Landau plays the role so well that I really felt for the guy. He wants to get back into movies so badly that he willingly puts up with the circus that is Ed Wood, not realizing that Wood’s movies are only dragging him into oblivion. Sarah Jessica Parker and Patricia Arquette both play the love interest roles of Ed Wood. Parker quickly becomes freaked-out at Wood’s weirdness, while Arquette loves him for his uniqueness. Both play their parts well, and I actually found myself enjoying Parker in a movie for once. Another highlight is Jeffery Jones (of Ferris Bueller fame), who plays an excellent Criswell, a flamboyant nationally syndicated psychic from the time of Wood, and is one of Wood’s groupies.

One of the drawbacks to this film is the underutilization of Bill Murray, who is admittedly one of the main reasons I was looking forward to seeing this film. When on-screen his lines are just ok, but in my opinion he needs more screen time. With a story this strange and Wood’s life this weird, some Murray smarminess would be excellent. Unfortunately, there isn’t much.

The other main drawback is a more serious one, unlike the nit-picking above. It has to do with the plot, so if you’ve never heard Wood’s story and want to be surprised by his lifestyle, skip to the end of this review.

The Ed Wood character isn’t likeable, plain and simple. While I understand that the bizarre behavior and weird personality is supposed to keep me entertained and not necessarily his likeability, this is hard for me to do. His delusions of grandeur are preposterous. Anyone comparing themselves to Orson Welles at this time (with Citizen Kane and Touch of Evil under his belt) has to be borderline insane. His impossible dreams were made even further out of reach when he revealed himself to be a transvestite. On top of that, even after his movies were panned by executives and audiences, he continued to make trash. Thankfully, the movie of his life ends before possibly the most tragic chapter occurs; when he would eventually make pornos and write sex novels before drinking himself into a heart attack. I don’t find this as the fault of Burton’s direction, Depp’s acting, or even the script writing. I think it’s just that the story of Wood isn’t really worth re-telling. He had a dream, sure, everybody does. His was a dream that wouldn’t die even after it came to fruition. He got his movie made, but he wants to be like Orson Welles. I wanted to be like Nolan Ryan growing up, so what?

As a biography, Ed Wood, while admittedly incomplete, does a good job of capturing his bizarre life. From his obsession with movies to his personal life, Wood was a failure in most respects. His life was a tragedy. If you’re interested in Wood, Johnny Depp, Martin Landau’s excellent performance, or perhaps Tim Burton as a director, then see this, you won’t be disappointed. If a good story is what you crave, search elsewhere. Overall, it’s ok, but not worthy of a Top 250 nod in my book. 6/10