Review: 'Mank' a lovely but limited tribute to Hollywood

In the truest sense of the phrase, "Mank" is a love letter to Hollywood. 

It's not just because David Fincher's exacting biopic about "Citizen Kane" writer Herman J. Mankiewicz is a glowing tribute to Hollywood's golden era and the early days of the studio system. Like a love letter, it's meant specifically for the recipient, and is not intended for the the eyes of others. Those to whom it is addressed will feel the love, like a warm, full-bodied bear hug. Everyone else will wonder what all the gushing is about.

Oscar-winner Gary Oldman stars as Mankiewicz, a colorful screenwriter in 1930s Hollywood. When we meet him, he's holed up in a remote desert hideaway, bedridden due to a recent car crash, tasked with writing "Citizen Kane" for a barking Orson Welles (Tom Burke, mostly off-screen).

Mank, as he's known, is a boisterous drunk and a gambler, vices which seem to aid his professional duties. In flashbacks we see him in writer's rooms, pitch meetings and sauntering across studio lots, glad-handing with everyone from studio heads to day players. Mank is Hollywood, slick, self-absorbed and a hell of a party guest, living his own personal movie where he's the writer, director and front-row audience member. 

Around him, the world is in a state of change. The depression is causing cutbacks and belt-tightening everywhere, even in Tinseltown. There are rumors that movie production is headed to Florida. And a tight gubernatorial race in California has bigwigs frightened of a socialist takeover.

Against this backdrop, Fincher — working from a script authored by his late father, Jack Fincher, in the late 1990s — weaves a story of Hollywood's might, and the ways its influence extends beyond movie screens. When Democratic candidate Upton Sinclair starts to gain in the polls, studios employ early versions of Fake News, using actors in news reels to push propaganda to voters in favor of Republican candidate Frank Merriam. And Mank, being the Zelig (or the Forrest Gump, depending on your point of reference) of the story, inadvertently finds himself at the center of this devious shift. 

"Mank" shifts between the writer's past and his daunting "Kane" assignment, which Welles immediately orders down from 90 to 60 days for delivery. Aiding Mank is Rita (Lily Collins), his sweet-natured secretary, who aims to keep him on task and away from the bottle. Various others warn Mank against targeting wealthy and powerful media tycoon William Randolph Hearst (Charles Dance) in his "Kane" script, including Marion Davies (Amanda Seyfried), Hearst's mistress, who embodies big screen glamour while also spouting Brooklyn-isms such as "aw, nerts." 

"Mank" is dense, made with film school-worthy meticulousness and thick with inside references to Hollywood's inner workings and details about its processes. It expresses both appreciation for and wariness of Hollywood's allure and its ability to shape reality.

Fincher shoots in sumptuous black and white, nailing the look of scratchy old film reels, even adding in periodic cue marks in the upper right hand portion of the screen. "Mank" arrives feeling vintage. 

Yet its limited scope makes it feel like an invitation-only party the viewer accidentally wandered into. Producers and those embedded in the industry will adore it. Others, however, may find themselves mumbling "aw, nerts." 

agraham@detroitnews.com

@grahamorama

'Mank'

GRADE: B

Rated R: for some language

Running time: 132 minutes

On Netflix