Mank - 10 nominations

 

Best Motion Picture of the Year Ceán Chaffin (producer)  Eric Roth (producer)  Douglas Urbanski (producer)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role - Gary Oldman

Best Achievement in Directing - David Fincher

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role - Amanda Seyfried

Best Sound Ren Klyce  Jeremy Molod  David Parker  Nathan Nance  Drew Kunin

Best Achievement in Production Design Donald Graham Burt (production design)  Jan Pascale (set decoration)

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score) Trent Reznor  Atticus Ross

Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling Gigi Williams  Kimberley Spiteri  Colleen LaBaff

Best Achievement in Costume Design - Trish Summerville

Best Achievement in Cinematography - Erik Messerschmidt

Mank is a highly stylized film following the life of Herman J Mankowicz - an aging, alcoholic screenwriter upon whom Orson Welles calls to write Citizen Kane. In the shadow of the rise of Nazi Germany and a controversial gubernatorial race, people read the script and see parallels between the protagonist and William Randolph Hearst, and the comparison is hardly flattering.  Through a relationship with Hearst's lover played adorably by Amanda Seyfried, Mank finds himself introduced to WRH and the fireworks ensue.  And honestly, that's just some of what happens in this overly long, somewhat disappointing film.

Don't get me wrong, I liked it, and I sat all the way through it (which is hardly a selling point). The black and white cinematography was a great choice for creating the setting, the style, and the tone bringing us back to the great black and white films of the 50's.  The costumes, production design, and hair styling do the same.

Have you ever watched a film that is so intentional but so over the top about being a period piece that you occasionally say out loud a real throwback Edward G Robinson-esque, "yeah, see" while the film plays on your screen?  (Just me? Cool cool cool.) If you never have, I swear while you watch this film, you will.  And yet, it's the most nominated film of the year.  

The parts are good - the cast is good, the directing is good, the design elements are good, and yet somehow, the whole is not as good as the sum of its parts.  Unless you feel passionately about seeing all of the nominated Best Picture films (an instinct I certainly understand), I wouldn't prioritize this one.  Instead, just watch Citizen Kane.  Now that's worth it.

To watch the trailer: