Upbeat biopic

Rating: 9/10 (20 January 2004)

What's not to like? The ensemble cast are all terrific, and the handsome black and white cinematography perfectly sets off what is, really, an optimistic film. Look how it ends - with the critical lambasting of Plan 9 From Outer Space? No... with its premiere. An odd, sometimes rambling, little film. But classic stuff about a less than classic artist. The scene where he meets Orson Welles is great.