This film should be number one............

Rating: 10/10 (15 October 2005)

as it's probably the best and most intelligent script ever written and it's splendidly and brilliantly directed and acted.
If you're looking for pure entertainment, you won't find it here. CITIZEN KANE is a thinking person's entertainment that touches on many aspects of morality and the lack thereof. Imagine a hybrid of "The Prince" and "All The King's Men" and you have something of the ideas at the core of CITIZEN KANE (yes, this predates Robert Penn Warren's masterpiece). That message is that power, be it monetary or political, corrupts AND destroys. That money buys the best of everything except that which is truly worthwhile. That an ego, left unchecked, will turn on itself. That loneliness is too often self-imposed. It is a story of a man's self-destruction - of how his desire to have everything and control everything ultimately results in his having nothing except his money and regrets. These were new and profound subjects for mass entertainment.
CITIZEN KANE is cinematic brilliance. It stands, arguably, at the summit of American cinema. As for me, I don't know if it's the best movie ever made. I do know that there are a few movies that are just as good but I know of none that are better.