Possibly Tim Burton's best film

Rating: 9/10 (19 December 2010)

Edward D. Wood Jr. was revered as the worst director of all time. Tim Burton's Ed Wood is the tragic yet hilarious story of his attempt to make movies and just how unsuccessful he was at doing so. Johnny Depp portrays the strange and eccentric director in one of the best performances of his career. It is a very unique film with a very unique style, especially since it is all shot in black and white. Tim Burton's vision for this film stays very prevalent and obvious throughout the movie. It is very focused in its goal of simply portraying the life and eccentricities of Edward Wood Jr. The movie isn't cruel or mean spirited to him or his strange group of friends who help him make his movies. It simply tells the true accounts of how this man went about making his movies and all the little speed bumps along the way.
What makes a film about the life of Ed Wood work so well is how much of a character the man actually was. He was so impassioned about making movies and had such big ideas for his films. He idolized Orson Welles and other huge stars of his time. The man wanted nothing more than to make films. He just had no earthly idea how. In the grand scheme of things the story of Ed Wood is quite the tragedy since he never got the recognition he longed for until after his death, but the movie Ed Wood focuses on his determined filmmaking stretch where he remained strangely optimistic and was determined to get every film he worked on completed. And thats something he actually did, they were just all awful. The story this film tells is incredibly entertaining and is a very fascinating study of the over zealous man that was Ed Wood.
Johnny Depp is incredible as Ed Wood but the film also offers a great lineup of supporting cast members. The best is definitely Martin Landau as the discouraged and washed up old Bela Lugosi. His story is even more tragic and depressing than Wood's, but Landau's portrayal is exquisite. So much so that he won an Oscar for it. I get the feeling Lugosi was an odd character because Landau portrays him with so many funny little nuances and quirks, making him such a fun character. The other cast members do a great job as well. The two love interests Wood has during the movie are hilarious contrasts of one another and Sarah Jessica Parker and Patricia Arquette do a great job in those roles. Bill Murray and Jeffrey Jones step in for some bit parts that are hilarious in their own ways. Vincent D'Onofrio steps in for about two minutes of screen time in a cameo as Orson Welles in one of the best scenes of the whole film. The whole cast of the film is full of odd personalities and strange habits and it makes the film a consistently fun ride.
Tim Burton's auteur style is another of the shining aspects in this film. It is very different and unconventional, but it works extremely well throughout the film. First off he directs it all in black and white which makes it stand out anyways. But there are times when it actually feels like a film directed during Ed Wood's time period, obviously a lot better than Ed Wood himself would have directed it. This style stays consistent but never so much that the film loses its appeal. It has a great flow to it and keeps your attention from start to finish. I was never bored of the film and no aspect ever grew tired or overdone. It is an incredibly well made film.
Ed Wood is one of the most entertaining biopics I've ever seen. Ed Wood and the quirky people who surrounded him make for some of the most unique and fascinating stories imaginable. And of course it helps when these characters are so excellently portrayed by the A-list stars that drive this film. The 90s were Tim Burton's golden age of filmmaking and Ed Wood proves it.