One of the great movies of our time based on the life of one of the worst directors of all time.

Rating: 10/10 (22 July 2014)

Have you heard of a film called "plan 9 from outer space"? No? Okay, how about "Bride of the monster"? Fine, what about "Glen or Glenda" perhaps? Unless you are some sort of a weirdo cinema fan who spends all his time watching every single movie under the sun, the chances are you have never heard of any of those movies. If you do know about any of them, I tip my imaginary hat to your awesomeness.
All of the above movies have two things in common. They are terrible. So terrible that every year hipsters around the world gather to watch and pay tribute to them. And they were made by a guy named Ed Wood. You have never heard of him either. Ed Wood has the dishonor of being considered the worst director of all time. Why would anyone make a movie about him? I asked myself the same question until I watched Ed Wood. Johnny Depp gives a heartfelt and hilarious performance as wide eyed talent-less but passionate and endlessly optimistic young man who believes in himself and harbors great hopes of one day making it as big as his idol Orson Wells. Sarah Jessica Parker plays Dolores Fuller his long suffering girlfriend and star of most of his movies and Martin landau as the washed up drug addict real life actor Bella Lugosi, a roll which deservedly won him a best supporting actor Oscar.
Other supporting cast includes the always wonderful Bill Murray, Patricia Arquette and Jeffery jones as his band of misfit cast and crew. The film follows the adventures of the titular character and his weird set of friends as the stumbles across Hollywood struggling to make some of his most famous movies. Tim Burton is the perfect choice of director for this movie. His own fascination with freaks and outsiders works wonderfully well here. Shot in black and white, the set designs are perfect. The movie looks and feels like a Hollywood B movie from the 50's. Every frame is lovingly crafted. Burtons love and fascination with his subject is shines through every frame of the movie. It feels like watching a really good Ed Wood movie. Genuinely hilarious at times, Ed wood is a very unhollywood film. It goes against the idea of try and try until you succeed. Perhaps that is why it has remained under the radar of general audience for so long. Tim Burton has made one of the great movies of our time based on the life of one of the worst directors of all time. That is pretty ironic.