"Mank" on Netflix
If you're a Citizen Kane fan, like me, you'll be drawn to this entertaining story about Herman Mankiewicz cloistered in a Mojave Desert bungalow, his broken leg on the mend, writing the screenplay for arguably the greatest film ever made. Interspersed with scenes of Mank and his caretakers, and occasional visits by John Houseman, Mank's brother Joe, even Welles himself, are flashbacks to the 1934 California gubernatorial election, during which MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer uses all his influence, including false media, to defeat "that utopian son of a bitch" Upton Sinclair.
Gary Oldman is unsurprisingly good as the alcoholic idealist Mank and Amanda Seyfried does well as the smart, gilded-cage actress Marion Davies. Charles Dance plays Hearst with reserve and little chance for fireworks as we never see his reaction to the script while Arliss Howard as Mayer is in a constant fume. Tom Burke who plays Welles doesn't get much screen time but does so well at imitating his speech that when they play an actual recording of Orson's voice near the end I didn't notice any difference. I found the depiction of Houseman as a fussy toady a little unfair, though. Read his captivating memoir, Run-Through, to know the man.
The movie is filmed in black and white and the opening credits and music are beautiful but the lighting throughout is too dark, portraying Southern California as permanently overcast. A lot of the cinematography, as well as the frequent time jumps, seems to be an homage to Kane but falls far short of the dramatic impact Welles and Gregg Toland achieved. Overall, it's fun to watch and managed to give me a little more insight into my favorite movie, and its essential but less well-known co-creator.
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The guy at the piano is Charlie Chaplin and I was sure it was Mark Ruffalo in a cameo but, no, another actor. 
