Ed Wood
Academy Award × 2
Rent/Purchase
The mostly true story of the legendary "worst director of all time", who, with the help of his strange friends, filmed countless B-movies without ever becoming famous or successful.
What critics thought
Burton's loving black-and-white portrait of cinema's most notorious bad director earned strong praise for Depp's performance and the film's warm, celebratory tone — but critics were divided over whether that warmth came at the cost of real depth. Most found it endlessly watchable; a minority felt it coasted on charm where it should have cut deeper.
“Depp captures all the can-do optimism that kept Ed Wood going, thanks to an extremely funny ability to look at the silver lining of any cloud.”
Janet Maslin·The New York Times
“Always engaging to watch and often dazzling in its imagination and technique, [the] picture is also a bit distended, and lacking in weight at its center. The result is beguiling rather than thrilling.”
Todd McCarthy·Variety
“One wonders why this Burton film is so dishwatery, why it lacks the cartoon zest and outsider ache of Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands or Batman Returns.”
Richard Corliss·Time
Genres
Biography, Comedy, Drama
Cast & Crew
DirectorTim Burton
StarringJohnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia Arquette, Jeffrey Jones
ComposerHoward Shore
Ed Wood
Academy Award × 2
The mostly true story of the legendary "worst director of all time", who, with the help of his strange friends, filmed countless B-movies without ever becoming famous or successful.
What critics thought
Burton's loving black-and-white portrait of cinema's most notorious bad director earned strong praise for Depp's performance and the film's warm, celebratory tone — but critics were divided over whether that warmth came at the cost of real depth. Most found it endlessly watchable; a minority felt it coasted on charm where it should have cut deeper.
“Depp captures all the can-do optimism that kept Ed Wood going, thanks to an extremely funny ability to look at the silver lining of any cloud.”
Janet Maslin·The New York Times
“Always engaging to watch and often dazzling in its imagination and technique, [the] picture is also a bit distended, and lacking in weight at its center. The result is beguiling rather than thrilling.”
Todd McCarthy·Variety
“One wonders why this Burton film is so dishwatery, why it lacks the cartoon zest and outsider ache of Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands or Batman Returns.”
Richard Corliss·Time
Genres
Biography, Comedy, Drama
Cast & Crew
DirectorTim Burton
StarringJohnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia Arquette, Jeffrey Jones
ComposerHoward Shore
Rent/Purchase