Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 28, 1994 TAG: 9410280050
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Essentially, it's the true story of the first years of Ed Wood Jr.'s Hollywood career. Though opinions about Wood and his low-budget movies differ, two points are universally accepted. First, he was the worst director ever to work behind a camera. Second, he was a terrific guy. Virtually everyone who knew him liked him.
That's what drew Tim Burton to the project, and it's easy to share his enthusiasm.
The story begins in 1953 when Ed Wood (Johnny Depp) is facing some his first bad reviews for a disastrous play. But then he learns that a producer is looking for a director to make a low-budget film about transsexual Christine Jorgensen. Wood waltzes into the producer's office and announces that he is just the man to write, direct and star in the film. Why? Because Ed's a transvestite, i.e. an otherwise "normal" heterosexual man who likes to dress in women's clothes.
Upon that dubious credential, his rocky career is launched with "Glen or Glenda." The real spark, though, is a chance meeting with Bela Lugosi (Martin Landau). Though the aging horror star and the budding auteur might seem like an odd couple, they're not.
Forgotten by the business, Lugosi thinks of himself as "just as ex-Bogieman in a tract house" - an ex-Bogieman addicted to morphine. But ever the optimist, Ed sees Lugosi as the star who frightened him as a child, and brings him back in front of the camera. Lugosi is only one of the colorful eccentrics who find themselves in Ed's orbit.
His girlfriend Dolores Fuller (Sarah Jessica Parker) is an early, though reluctant participant. Celebrity psychic Criswell (Jeffrey Jones) is a friend and so is the tasteful transvestite Bunny Breckenridge (Bill Murray). Later, wrestler Tor Johnson (George "The Animal" Steele) and horror hostess Vampira (Lisa Marie) would sign on.
Money is always a problem in the film business, and Ed spends much of his time and energy finding (and then placating) backers, including a Baptist church. Problems in that area eventually lead to a brief meeting with Orson Welles (Vincent D'Onofrio).
Through his friendship with Lugosi, Ed meets Kathy O'Hara (Patricia Arquette), his future wife. Those two relationships are at the center of the story and give the film a refreshing sweetness.
Depp's performance is one of his most likeable and open. He makes Ed's undeniable quirks seem completely natural. After all, despite his lack of talent, Ed is a man with a dream. He'll do almost anything to see the fulfillment of that dream, but he won't abuse his friends or lie to them.
Martin Landau's work is more carefully shaded. He doesn't imitate Lugosi's accent or gestures. Instead, he concentrates on the old man's bitterness, his painful addiction and his rebirth through Ed's encouragement.
In many ways, this is Tim Burton's most assured film. The script by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski is certainly stronger than either of the "Batman" films. The realistic setting, well-photographed by Stefan Czapsky in black-and-white, makes the story less dependent on the whimsical atmosphere that underlies "Beetlejuice" and "Edward Scissorhands." Here, Burton keeps the focus the characters, not the sets or the special effects.
If, in the end, Wood's life and work didn't live up to his dreams, Burton ends his story on a high note. "Ed Wood" is a real crowd-pleaser, one of the best films of the year.
Ed Wood ***1/2
A Touchstone release playing at The Grandin Theatre. 127 min. Rated R for strong language, subject matter.
by CNB