How Ironic!

Rating: Null/10 (14 December 2015)

Two hours and I didn't get up once. Of course, I've laughed along with thousands of others at Wood's totally inept productions, except I'd never gotten around to catching this flick. No doubt this is the best movie Wood's name has ever attached to. Depp's likable never-say-die buoyancy carries the benighted Wood from one fiasco to the next. If sheer drive converted into talent, Wood would replace his idol Orson Welles as cinema's top dog. But then reality is no problem if you just ignore it. I love that near riot scene at the premiere of Bride of the Gorilla. Does that dampen Wood's artistic confidence—not a whit. In my book, Depp deserved the Oscar, hands down.
Speaking of Oscars, Landau too deserved one. His resemblance to the real Lugosi is uncanny. Plus, he manages the touching moments of a has-been monster in really poignant fashion. And get a load of Vampira (Lisa Marie). I wanted to snuggle up and run at the same time.
What the movie does in spades is show the fringes of the Hollywood glamor factory, with its many colorful characters. I especially like Wood's run-ins with the tyrannical schlock-meister who insists he only does "crap". Sounds like real behind-the-scenes candor. At the same time, the movie doesn't include Wood's seamy battle with alcohol or the rat-traps he was reduced to living in. The narrative's really about his professional career rather than his personal life.
Nonetheless, the two-hours remain a highly entertaining look at an amazing personality, who never took "no" for an answer. And, oh yes, there's the movie's big irony—Edward D. Wood Jr. did become famous, after all.