Few figures in film history draw the attention of cinephiles like Marlon Brando. The icon was one of the greatest dramatic performers in history, only equaled by the drama he brought to sets away from the camera. A movie like Waltzing With Brando, from director Bill Fishman, is the light-hearted kind of examination you’d expect to surround the prankster showman. However, not only does the movie ignore the darker aspects of Brando’s on-set behavior, but it is a dull, tedious slog. While star Billy Zane turns in a perfectly fine performance, the vast majority of the film is a showcase for the makeup recreating Brando’s iconic looks. Sadly, the rest of Waltzing with Brando is formulaic biopic storytelling.
Waltzing with Brando Plot
Based on the book of the same name by Bernard “Bernie” Judge (Jon Heder), Waltzing with Brando follows an architect when he travels to Tahiti for a job. He arrives on the island with a mission to find a site for Jack Bellin (Rob Corddry) to build a hotel. Unbeknownst to Bernie, Bellin wants him to stay with his famous friend, Marlon Brando (Billy Zane).
Over the next year, Judge not only works on Bellin’s project but also on a private residence for Brando. As the tensions rise between Belin’s project and the locals in Tahiti, the real estate magnate chooses to abandon his work, but Judge continues to work with Brando. Over the next five years, he works away from his family while trying to reinvent ecological living. However, with the literal distance away from those he loves and the metaphorical distance from the money men funding Brando’s dream, the architect finds himself struggling to deliver his final project.
The depiction of Tahiti is questionable at best.
While many of the sequences and footage appear authentic to French Polynesia, the way director Bill Fishman shoots the movie somehow makes paradise feel fake. Part of this rides on the editing. In an early scene, Heder believes he can swim up to Brando’s private island, but instead gets dragged through the currents and the coral reef. During the sequence, we flash between Heder being thrown around by the ocean and the locals on the boat.
Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters Might Be the Crown Jewel of Oscars 2026
At no point in time does it appear that the characters on the boat are looking at Heder, in part because they stare in opposite directions. The choices here are borderline inept and do nothing to build the sequence into the comedic tone the music seems to indicate.
The quick cuts to the islands while in the middle of conversations between the characters leave Waltzing with Brando in a pickle. For one, it is distracting to watch random imagery pop into the movie without explanation. It might be inferred that Bernie is dreaming of the locations Brando describes, but this happens seemingly at random.
Second, this leaves the cast with no chemistry. When they act in sequences together, there’s often more of a spark. However, there are dozens of scenes where Heder and Zane are meant to have a conversation, but are clearly filming their responses at very different times. The lack of on-set communication is apparent and makes Heder look particularly out of his depth.
The other issue that quickly presents itself is the voyeurism of the camera. The male gaze is not only implied by the leering camera on naked bodies. Bernie actively stops conversations when seeing the “naked natives,” questions the gender of local Tahitians, and even jokes about a woman trying to seduce the architect. The way Waltzing with Brando continually trivializes or uses non-white customs as the basis of its humor is concerning. It’s not just that it’s exoticizing these cultures but actively frames them as unusual (compared to the white characters who actively practice infidelity).
Poor writing weighs down Waltzing with Brando.
From the start of Waltzing with Brando, the story makes the fatal error of overusing narration. This can be used well, as it has been in Goodfellas or Clueless. Here, however, the movie is stitched together with a running narration that grates on the audience. It is not only an issue of Heder’s fourth-wall-breaking scenes but of the exposition dumps that consistently overtake the movie.
Ranking the 97 Oscar Best Picture Winners From the Academy Awards
The transitions to seeing Brando on set in signature roles feel clunky at best and have little to no relation to the narrative. Do we want to see Brando shooting The Godfather? Of course. But does a montage of sequences around Last Tango in Paris or Superman make any difference to Bernie’s life in Tahiti? Not really. It’s a great way to show off the makeup, but otherwise, it stops the movie dead in its tracks.
The sexual politics of the movie are also questionable. In one scene, Bernie’s wife warns him about “getting island fever” and being unfaithful in his marriage. When she then gropes him, their daughter makes a quip about the act. This only scratches the surface of the discomfort in Waltzing with Brando, which is again heightened by the voyeurism of the camera.
Perhaps most frustrating of all, the level of self-aggrandizement on screen from Heder’s character is borderline shameful. The way he frames his actions as those that will change the world is meant to justify his unwillingness to learn from those around him. While he’s portrayed as intellectually curious, his actions never match that. Instead, Heder feels like a blowhard, when the book is far more self-deprecating and reflexive than the movie ever really frames him.
Zane and the makeup shine despite the other shortcomings.
As soon as you see the makeup on Zane, it makes sense that this team deserved its shortlist inclusion for last year’s Oscar campaign. That means the makeup cannot be nominated in the upcoming race, making the release nine months after its submission all the more puzzling. To their credit, the makeup artists make Zane nearly indistinguishable in physical appearance from Brando. There are moments when you can see the actor’s face, but in terms of facsimile, there are few recent projects that accomplish this.
12 Things Oscars 2025 Got Horribly Wrong This Year Including Some Major Snubs and Embarrassing Moments
Zane is also doing a rather strong Brando impression. He captures the impish nature of the man better than most, allowing us to see his bizarre sense of humor in all of its silliness. Waltzing with Brando leans too hard into him being a figure of greatness, and we hear him exalted as one of the most important humans who has ever lived. Zane makes him charming, but we never feel that level of gravitas (in part because most of the movie is framed as a comedy).
Is Waltzing with Brando worth watching?
Sadly, no. Waltzing with Brando, at its best, reminds you of the great roles that Brando played on screen. Rather than watch an overly long, unfunny movie, watch the actual classics he created. While the makeup work is quite impressive, the industry has already shown a willingness to pay attention to this craft independently. Otherwise, this is an easy-to-skip biopic.
Waltzing with Brando releases on September 19, 2025.