Movie Review - Mank

Director: David Fincher
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 131 minutes
Year: 2020
Starring: Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins, Charles Dance, Tuppence Middleton, Leven Rambin, Tom Burke, Tom Pelphrey, Arliss Howard, Toby Leonard Moore, Joseph Cross, Jamie McShane, Elvy, Sam Throughton, Natalie Denise Sperl, Ferdinand Kingsley, Adam Shapiro

Description: 1930s Hollywood is reeveluated through the eyes of scathing social critic and alcoholic screenwriter herman J, Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman) as he races to finish the screenplay of Citizen Kane.

Review: Screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, Mank for short, is approached by Orson Welles to work on a film script. Through flashbacks his route to the making of this script will be explained.
I know director David Fincher mainly from his darker work, like “Se7en”, “Zodiac”, “Gone Girl” and his profound series “Mindhunter”. So when I saw his name connected to this film, I was intrigued. And yes, with Gary Oldman in the lead, it quickly got my attention. “Mank” is an ode to film from the late 30s, early 40s. With “Citizen Kane” as the legendary battleship of his catgory. This is a film that cinephiles with a penchant for old Hollywood will enjoy.
“Mank” was shot in that style: completely black and white, with methods of lighting and sound that make you feel like you’re in classic Hollywood. Fincher makes the choice here to e very stylistic, which I didn’t expect him to be. And he did this very well. Gary Oldman plays the charismatic Mank, intellectual chatterbox and professional drunk, and he does this sublime. Amanda Seyfried, who I have never been a big fan of, plays her best role so far. And Charles Dance is always great in whatever he does. But it’s Oldman’s movie and nobody will be able to drink enough to come across as credibly drunk as Oldman does here soberly. And at the same time eh finds the balance between pedanticism and sympathy.  
The script is well put together, but doesn’t have much to do. “Mank” is a bit too long to my taste. The many flashbacks add to how Mank wrote the script for “Citizen Kane”, because that’s what this is all about, and why he made certain script choices. The film certainly isn’t boring, but it won’t appeal to everyone. The cinephiles among us will love it. For the rest: this is a stylistic biographical film you may or may not like. It suits me just fine!

Rating: 3,5 / 5