Mank Review: 7 Ups & 3 Downs
Gary Oldman's searing performance anchors David Fincher's tricky period biopic.
Though the elgibility deadline for the 2021 Oscars has been extended from December 31st to February 28th of next year, studios aren't wasting any time ensuring their biggest awards hopefuls are out there by the end of 2020.
By far one of the most anticipated films in this year's awards race is David Fincher's 11th film, Mank, a biopic of Citizen Kane co-writer Herman J. Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman) which clearly ticks a number of the Academy's favoured boxes (namely, movies about Hollywood itself).
What's clear about Mank from minute one is that this is quite unlike anything Fincher has made before: a lovingly crafted if at times confounding film sure to puzzle almost as many as it enchants.
But there's little denying the astonishing filmmaking and acting craft on offer throughout, ensuring that whether it fully wins you over or not, there's plenty worth respecting.
Whether it can triumph over more outwardly accessible Oscar hopefuls like The Trial of the Chicago 7 and even Nomadland remains to be seen, but Mank is nothing if not another expertly assembled work of cinema from one of our most consistently brilliant filmmakers.
Is it Fincher's finest film to date? Absolutely not, but he once again brings his sublimely meticulous eye to the fore and yields (mostly) outstanding results...