Ed Wood (1994) Review

Ed Wood (1994)

Ed Wood follows aspiring director Ed Wood Jr, who, after befriending a washed up Bela Lugosi, tries to make it in Hollywood whilst seemingly only capable of making really bad movies. 

Like most any biopic, I think the key to truly appreciating Ed Wood is having knowledge of and in some fashion, having a certain admiration for who is widely considered one of the worst directors of all time. My knowledge of the late director (for some reason) only extends to his later career in making really bad porn films, so it was to my surprise to find that so much of this movie is weirdly accurate to true life. So much of it feels stranger than fiction, from his double life as a transvestite, to his very real friendship with horror icon Bela Lugosi, making it a wonder he ever made a movie, let alone multiple. 

You can tell that for director Tim Burton, this is a passion project through and through, lacking in his very distinctive style, though still packing it full of his trademark, oddball quirkiness. There’s a specific attention to detail, in nailing the look of 1950s Hollywood and the whole host of unusual characters that populates its screens. Therefore it’s no surprise that the whole movie is shot, in a beautifully balanced black and white I might add, to not only look like a film from the time, but also to be reminiscent of Wood’s style while telling his story. 

We get a truly oddball cast, starring Vincent D’Onofrio Mike Starr, Juliet Landau, Patricia Arquette, Jeffrey Jones, Sarah Jessica Parker, Lisa Marie, George Steele, Bill Murray, Martin Landau, and Johnny Depp. Deep is at his most offbeat here, handling Wood in such an honest and optimistic way, where you almost admire grit to just make movies with his friends. Landau also brings such a gravitas to the late Lugosi, that half the time, I was convinced it was him all along, back from the grave. 

Ed Wood, directed by Tim Burton, though a strange reflection of real life, is one of Burton’s most toned back, letting Wood’s movies and friendships tell his story, in a true homage to the worst director ever.

8.6/10