In a way, it makes sense that a great movie should be made about such a bad director.
Ed Wood, directed by Tim Burton, follows the career of Edward D. Wood, Jr. (Johnny Depp), often hailed as the "worst director of all time," from the creation of one of his earliest movies, Glen or Glenda, to the premiere of his "masterpiece," Plan 9 from Outer Space. Along the way, Wood fulfills his visions with shoestring budgets and one of the strangest acting troupes in movie history.
A big part of why the movie works is because it treats Wood with respect. The movies he makes are not good; however, the joy with which Wood approaches the moviemaking process is something truly special. He is a whirling ball of energy when he directs, a manic typist when he writes his scripts and as charming as anyone around when producing and promoting his movies. Wood lives simply to make movies and nothing more, and he approaches his life's work with an infectious enthusiasm.
The way Depp plays Wood makes him incredibly likable. He is an earnest, almost childlike young man with boundless ambition, who unfortunately does not have the talent to match. Although Wood must struggle to keep making movies while also dealing with some of life's rough realities, he is almost never down -- instead, he faces his problems head on and never stops believing in himself. This relentlessly positive attitude is sometimes in danger of bordering on annoying, but Wood's happiness is more inspiring than obnoxious.
What gives the happiness Wood feels depth is the sense of adventure the movie instills into his work. When Wood needs a monster for the climax of one of his movies, he gathers his crew for a movie studio heist, where they barely escape with a rubber, motorized giant squid. Who would not have fun making movies like that? To promote his movies, Wood attends strange parties, and when he is in desperate need of money, he courts groups as far fetched as the local Baptist ministry (which objects to the term "grave robbers" in the title of the movie they are financing). Wood is far outside the moviemaking mainstream -- he does not have to deal with bullying studio heads who are interested only in the bottom line. All he must do is scrape together enough cash to keep the fun going one movie at a time.
Wood's gonzo troupe of misfits and outsiders are almost as entertaining as the man himself. There is Bunny Breckinridge (Bill Murray), a man who is as hilariously camp offscreen as he is in Wood's movies; Tor Johnson (George "The Animal" Steele), a Swedish wrestler and a gentle giant who often plays a villain; and Vampira (Lisa Marie), whose look was an inspiration for Elvira, the Mistress of the Dark. None of them are particularly gifted actors, but they fit seamlessly into the surreal worlds Wood imagines.
Then there is the broken down, faded star Bela Lugosi (Martin Landau), who is first seen trying out coffins. Wood's relationship with Lugosi is the heart of the movie. When Wood happens upon Lugosi, Lugosi is a morphine addict who has not acted regularly in years. This does not matter to Wood -- he is starstruck. When he looks at Lugosi, he does not see a man who has been battered by life; he sees Count Dracula. Wood gives Lugosi big parts in his movies, and a tight friendship forms between the director and his star.
It is pretty amazing to watch Landau in this movie -- he is Lugosi, not just in the sound of his voice but in his actions, the way he carries himself like a star but always a hint of collapse just around the corner. But there is still something there in Lugosi. The scene where he delivers one of the most infamous speeches Wood ever wrote -- the "Atomic Supermen" speech in Bride of the Monster -- what is in reality a really goofy bit of dialogue is suddenly given power, because Lugosi is truly alive again. In his own way, Lugosi is just like Wood. He lives to act and make movies, but he is frequently denied this opportunity because nobody wants to see him anymore.
Ed Wood is a great movie about the fun and spirit of making movies. It does not matter much to Wood that nobody likes the movies he makes -- he is love with every shot he takes. The movie does end on a bit of a down note as it recounts the end of Wood's life, because he constantly struggled until the day he died, but the last shot of Ed Wood reinforces the theme of delirious happiness the movies bring to audiences and the people who make them. After all, the movies are first and foremost an entertainment experience. Wood lives by that from the opening seconds until the very end of the picture.
EDIT: The first of the retroactive scene additions! This scene from Ed Wood features Wood and his gang of crazies being baptized so that the baptist ministry will fund Plan 9 from Outer Space.
