NOW IN THEATERS! As soon as the first images of Billy Zane as Marlon Brando were released in late 2024, the reaction signaled Oscar buzz. Interest in Waltzing with Brando was immense. From still images alone, it was clear that Billy was born to play Brando. Now the film is here. The question is, are the images more powerful than the film itself?
Writer-director Bill Fishman’s Waltzing with Brando centers on architect Bernard Judge (Jon Heder), who is commissioned to build a resort in Tahiti. Bernard sets off to meet his boss’s contact on the island, who turns out to be the charming, enigmatic, and reclusive Marlon Brando (Billy Zane). After months of work and struggling to secure a location to build, Bernard is fired.
Having become friends, Marlon Brando hires Bernard to build a home and livable infrastructure on a private island he owns. Over months and years, the project grows from simply building a home to building Marlon’s utopian, ecologically sustainable resort where people can escape the toxic ways of Hollywood and connect with nature. Bernard’s relationship with his wife, Dana (Alaina Huffman), and daughter, Sabrina (Ava Zane), becomes strained, and his sanity is tested as he tries desperately to follow a zig-zagging Marlon and make sure that this was not a colossal waste of time.
“Marlon Brando hires Bernard to build a home and livable infrastructure on a private island he owns.”
Waltzing with Brando is a truly interesting story based on the memoir Waltzing with Brando: Planning a Paradise in Tahiti, by architect Bernard Judge. The film captures the beauty of Tahiti, and Billy Zane consumes every scene he is in. Heder plays his goofy fish out of water character well, and the contrast between his “straight man” and Zane’s “crazy man” works well.
The film moves quickly in a style reminiscent of The Big Short, where Bernard breaks the fourth wall, talking directly to the camera at various points in the movie to provide exposition. Where the film suffers is in trying to cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time and ends up leaving the characters in a 2-dimensional state. We don’t really get to know anyone deeply, which leaves the viewer feeling detached from the emotional hurdles the characters go through.
Unfortunately, the film chooses to tell a story about a particular time in Brando’s life, but focuses on the wrong character. When Bernard is on screen, you find yourself waiting for Marlon to return. While the story itself is interesting on paper, the film can’t lift that magic from the page. It’s paced well, but again, it’s focused on the wrong players. In many ways, the promotional images of Zane released in 2024 say so much more than the film is capable of.
All that to say, Zane truly does embody the allure of Brando. When he is on screen, you absolutely do not see the actor. The way they intercut famous interviews and scenes from The Godfather is engrossing, and that is made possible by the brilliance and nuance in Zane’s performance. However, Waltzing with Brando never gives Zane the opportunity to go deeper, which makes for a forgettable film and a lost opportunity for what could have been the role of a lifetime. I don’t see an Oscar nomination, but as a huge fan of The Phantom, I am hopeful that this film will lead to a much-deserved Zane renaissance of films to come.
"…Billy Zane consumes every scene…"
