YMMV / Mank

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• Ensemble Dark Horse: Joseph L. Mankiewicz wound up being rather popular thanks to being one of the only characters who consistently acts like a professional, decent human being, backed up by Tom Pelphrey's strong, sympathetic performance.
• He Really Can Act:
  • Character actor Arliss Howard gets a chance to truly shine in Mayer's big MGM scene where he brilliantly and crudely sets up his entire studio and outlook and then seamlessly puts on a false but genuinely convincing heartfelt plea to his workers.
  • Not that Amanda Seyfried was ever considered a bad actress, but her excellent work here was a pleasant surprise to many who knew her from her comedies, with most agreeing that she completely held her own against one of the most universally praised actors working today.
  • Similar praise can be levelled at Lily Collins, especially for her accent.
• Love to Hate:
  • William Randolph Hearst's cool, calm, and collected charisma and Charles Dance's terrifically intimidating nature makes Willie a rather entertaining opponent for Mank.
  • Louis B. Mayer's immensely unpleasant nature as a corrupt, raging Jerkass and weasel like crook makes him quite easy to hate. Arliss Howard's excellent performance is just the icing on the cake.
• Questionable Casting: While there's no denying he's incredibly talented, Gary Oldman is 19 years older than the real Mank was during the time period depicted in the film (Oldman is currently 62, Mank was 43). Casting someone significantly older than the real person also throws several of the other character ages off - in real life, Mank was 12 years older than his brother Joseph, while there's a 24-year age difference between Oldman and Tom Pelphrey, and two months younger than his wife Sarah, who is played by the 34-year-old Tuppence Middleton (a 28-year age gap between her and Oldman). Granted, the man's alcoholism could conceivably have aged him up quite a bit (Fincher's own defense was basically "Mank didn't look 43 when he was 43"), but it's debatable if he'd look as old as Oldman given his lifestyle. There's also the fact that the film severely underscores what a talent Orson Welles was considered to be - directing Citizen Kane at only 24 years old - by casting the noticeably older Tom Burke (39) to play him.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Despite William Randolph Hearst being by far one of the most important characters in the film, and Charles Dance giving a great performance, he's not really given all that much to do in person. While the audience still gets a decent idea of these dynamics, it feels like his friendship with Mank and romance with Marion are just begging to be further showcased, especially since so much of the film revolves around these aspects. The fact that Hearst is the direct inspiration for Charles Foster Kane, one of the most acclaimed characters of all time, only emphasizes the tragedy of his small role.

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