Mank (2020)

This story of Herman Mankiewicz' writing the Citizen Kane (1941) screenplay is great fun, especially for movie buffs. The enormous cast is headed by Gary Oldman in the title role, Charles Dance as William Randolph Hearst, Amanda Seyfried as Hearst's girlfriend Marion Davies, and Tom Pelphrey as Herman's brother Joe.

Directed by David Fincher, from a screenplay by his father Jack Fincher, the movie jumps back and forth in time from the writing of the screenplay to the events that supposedly inspired it. There were times I got confused as to what was when, but Jack did not.

The wonderful music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is available by subscription on Apple Music and free on Spotify.

The sets and costumes are magnificent and I kept thinking I wanted to see it in color, but research proved that it was not converted from color, but originally shot in black and white in a special dynamic range. Here's an article if you, too, would like to know more about the cinematography by Erik Messerschmidt. I also found this article about Donald Graham Burt's production design which includes the massive fireplace in the final Citizen Kane movie. And, oh, the wardrobe by Trish Summerville! 

One fun bit of trivia for us movie buffs is that every now and then there was a cue mark–a dot in the upper right corner–on the screen. Back in the day, those marks were burned onto film so the projectionists would know when to change reels. It was a fun conceit added to this made-for-Netflix project.

Oldman was last blogged for The Laundromat, Seyfried for First Reformed, David Fincher for Gone Girl, and Reznor and Ross for Mid90s. Dance was profiled in The Imitation Game. Pelphrey looked familiar because he played brother Ben in the series Ozark. This was the only movie written by Jack Fincher (1930-2003) that made it to the screen. Messerschmidt, in his feature debut, has already won one festival award (so far) for this. Burt won an Oscar for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and won an Art Directors Guild Award for that and Gone Girl and nominated for The Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (all David Fincher projects). Summerville was nominated by her peers for Costume Designers Guild Awards for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Gone Girl.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are rosy, averaging 84%, while its audiences are chillier at 61. We thoroughly enjoyed it on December 12. And we followed it with the Netflix mini-series Hollywood, which takes place just a few years later, mixing true historical filmmakers with fiction, wishful thinking, and full color sets and wardrobe.