Attractive and optimist biography about the worst filmmaker of all time supported by magnificent portrayals of his motley crew

Rating: 7/10 (16 July 2013)

A biopic of the life and work of the legendary 'worst director of all time', 'Edward D. Wood Jr.' and who now occupies a lofty position as a cult icon ; being based on Rudolph Grey's book ¨Nightmare of ecstasy : the life and art of Ed Wood¨. This is a touching and comic tribute to a Hollywood maverick , a cross-dressing , angora-sweater wearing director, concentrating on the best-known period of his life in the 1950s, when lack of financing and repeated failures led to make a lot of bad films , in spite of Wood's optimism and vitality . And focusing his relationship with Bela Lugosi and his rare troupe of actors . This is a mostly true story of the legendary director of awful pictures and his strange group of friends and actors .
This is a splendid tribute by Tim Burton to bring to the screen the tale of a filmmaker many consider to be the worst of all time . Lavishly produced , in fact , this film cost more to produce than all of Edward D. Wood Jr.'s films put together . Tim Burton said that he was drawn to the story because of the similarities between Edward D. Wood Jr.'s relationship with Bela Lugosi , now ageing and unemployed horror star , and his own friendship with Vincent Price late in the actor's life . Burton focuses on Ed's relationship with Bela , whose career is over by the time Wood befriends him . Depp is extraordinary and engaging as Ed , the strange filmmaker whose Angora sweaters were his weakness , women were his inspiration and movies were his passion . Johnny Depp has said that his characterization of Edward D. Wood Jr. was a mixture of "the blind optimism of Ronald Reagan, the enthusiasm of the Tin Man from The Wizard of OZ and Casey Kasem." . Martin Landau's winning of the 'Best Supporting Actor' Academy Award for his portrayal of down-on-his-lucky Bela Lugosi marked the first time in Oscar history that a performer in any category won for playing an actual movie star . However , Bela Lugosi Jr.'s only objection to the film's portrayal of his father was his speech. In Lugosi's memory, his father never used foul language .
Sensational support cast , the secondary actors are mostly convincing and enjoyable , almost every role has an appropriate resemblance to his or her Z-player counterpart and the performances are adequate such as Sarah Jessica Parker as Dolores Fuller , Jeffrey Jones as Criswell , Bill Murray as Bunny Breckinridge , Max Casella as Paul Marco , Brent Hinkley as Conrad Brooks , Lisa Marie as Vampira , George 'The Animal' Steele as Tor Johnson and Juliet Landau as Loretta King . Ed Wood was a low-budgeted auteur of such lousy actors and notoriously bad movies as ¨Glen or Glenda¨, ¨Bride of monster¨ and ¨Plan 9 from outer space¨ . Agreeable musical score by Howard Shore , the sweeping music during the epilogue is based on the music from Glen or Glenda and being the first film by Tim Burton to not feature Danny Elfman's soundtrack . Evocative as well as luxurious cinematography in black and white by Stefan Czapsky . The motion picture was compelling and stunningly directed by Tim Burton . Rating : Better than average , well worth seeing . Essential and indispensable watching .