Beautiful - apart from the 'strong language'

Rating: 9/10 (6 January 2009)

OK, call me a prude, but I absolutely DETEST what the BBC pompously refers to as 'strong language'. For 'strong', read 'foul'. And in 95% of cases, totally unnecessary. Because 'Ed Wood' is a superb film, easily Depp's best performance (and incidentally serves the very useful purpose of making the POTC series look even worse than they actually are). But Lugosi seemingly uttering at least one profanity in every line comes close to ruining it.
Right - let's get positive. Depp brilliantly captures Wood's indestructible self-belief, the conviction that what he was 'creating' was not only worthwhile, but a series of artistic triumphs. One can only speculate what must have gone through poor Ed's mind in the last days of his life, living in poverty, abandoned by almost everyone. That's why the most vivid memory 'Ed Wood' holds for me is its celebration of friendship - which, after family, is surely the most beautiful and precious thing in life. That bunch of weirdos who attended Bela Lugosi's funeral, when the Hollywood elite who'd lionised the man in his heyday were conspicuously absent, were bloody good specimens of humanity. If a comparable bunch were the only mourners at my own funeral... I could live with that! Thanks Tim, Johnny and - most of all - Ed.