With David Fincher opting not to go the A-list ensemble route, Gary Oldman is surrounded in the film by primarily character actor talent, and not only does that serve to make the world of the movie all the more immersive, but also creates the opportunity for surprises. Anyone who has ever seen him act knows that Charles Dance can effortlessly project a sinister and foreboding energy (and he certainly makes William Randolph Hearst an intimidating figure), but smart use of Tom Burke’s Orson Welles is made, as he becomes an intense, shadowy figure; Arliss Howard makes an audacious, loathsome Louis B. Mayer; and Amanda Seyfried is a wonderful scene-stealer. Her Brooklyn-tinged charm is effortless, and a wonderful complexity is provided in the realization that Marion Davies, who was Hearst’s mistress, was partial inspiration for the tragic Susan Alexander Kane in Citizen Kane.
