The back of the box says the movie is supposed to be about Ed Wood, Hollywood's worst director of all time. Really it seems to be more about the original Dracula, Bela Lugosi, played by Martin Landau. Landau won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor with this performance, and deservedly so. His story takes up probably 3/4 of the film, and it isn't until Legosi dies that it really feels like a story about Ed Wood. That wasn't a spoiler, by the way. Legosi is introduced in the film trying out coffins and tells Wood that he'll die soon.
Landau beautifully depicts the the aging actor's comedic and tragic lifestyle. Legosi is bitter, lonely, and pathetic. He only wants to make another film, but in joining a low-budget venture his unemployment ends and he can no longer pay the rent or feed his morphine addiction. In one chilling scene he's screaming in a rehab clinic, in another scene he's declaring, "Let's shoot this fucker!" before jumping in a lake to wrestle a giant plastic octopus.
The rest of the film (the first 15 minutes and last half hour) is less dramatic, more comedic and more about Ed Wood. I really like Wood's character, played by Johnny Depp. He has a "Gee-Golly, Aw Shucks" persona, and a great attitude about his film-making passion. He sees the star potential in everyone, from the washed-up Legosi to a heavyweight wrestler to his girlfriend's chiropracter. I really love his love for film. It reminds me that even bad movies can be good or hold special meaning. Also, he cross-dresses, and it's funny seeing Johnny Depp in a blond wig.
The whole movie is in black-and-white and is so ridiculous that I felt many times like I was watching MST3K, except without the robots sitting in the corner of the screen making comments- I wonder if MST3K has done any of Ed Wood's actual films. He's supposedly the worst director of all time, so probably.
The film does drag in spots, but there's plenty of fun concepts that make the film worth viewing. Johnny Depp tries to raise money for his film "Graverobbers from Outer Space" by shmoozing a Baptist who wants to make movies about the 12 apostles. Sarah Jessica Parker's character gets a bad play review and exclaims, "Do I really have a face like a horse?" Also, if there are any Scrubs fans out there, THIS is where the "Dr. Acula" joke came from.
Ed Wood is a Tim Burton film, and if you like Tim Burton films you should like this- it really is a combination of Big Fish and Mars Attacks. 4 stars.
i have been meaning to catch this flick for like 10 years on travis' (i can never remember- is it "travis's" or travis'?) recommendation. another one that you might dig is "shadow of the vampire," starring willam defoe as an "actor" hired to play the vampire in nosferatu, who is actually a real vampire convinced by a director (played by malkatraz) to shoot the movie. same kinda deal as ed wood, where even the things that make it less than hollywood gold seem to add to the story rather than take away from it.
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