Mank

 

David Fincher's homage to delusional power, Mank, is a self-reflective tribute to Hollywood screenwriting. The crackling script was written by Fincher's father, Jack Fincher, who died nearly 20 years ago. The elder Fincher has no other screen credit. Mank is a fictionalized retelling of injured booze-hound and master wit Herman Mankiewicz's writing of Citizen Kane, which many critics consider the GOAT among motion pictures, despite it winning only best original screenplay in 1942. Mankiewicz, played by an always riveting Gary Oldman, constructs a thinly veiled parable about newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst's vain ambitions and outsized influence not only in Hollywood but in national affairs. The writing is initially hobbled by Mank's broken leg, from an auto accident, and his alcoholism, which would eventually kill him. But, with support from a young Orson Welles (Tom Burke) and a dutiful British secretary Mrs. Alexander (Lily Collins), Mank is able to produce his best work ever. Fincher, shooting in black and white, recreates the silvery shimmer of the '30s and '40s and dazzles with sumptuous production design and his trademark, often counter-intuitive camera work. Fincher's stunning visuals combined with his father's whip-smart erudition -- the words! the words! -- make Mank a thrill to watch and to listen to.