David Fincher’s ‘Mank’ Scores Early Raves: ‘Luxuriant Cinephile Swoon of a Movie’

Gisele Schmidt / Netflix Film critics love David Fincher’s “Mank,” a movie starring Gary Oldman about the making of the greatest film of all time “Citizen Kane” that is swimming in Old Hollywood nostalgia. Critics have called “Mank” a “dense, luxuriant cinephile swoon of a movie” and have praised Oldman’s performance as “one of his more engaging performances in recent memory,” not to mention the lush, black and white cinematography that at times takes cues from “Kane.” It currently has a 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

“Though forged in a meticulous 1930s backdrop that merges historical detail with the style and tone of that era, ‘Mank’ is hardly a playful throwback,” Eric Kohn writes for Indiewire. “Fincher has made a cerebral psychodrama that rewards the engaged cinephile audience in its crosshairs, but even when cold to the touch, the movie delivers a complex and insightful look at American power structures and the potential for a creative spark to rankle their foundations.”

Set in 1930s Hollywood, “Mank” grapples with the cinematic controversy over whom was most responsible for “Citizen Kane” — director and star Orson Welles or his satirist writing partner Herman J. Mankiewicz. It’s a topic that many film […]

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