“Waltzing With Brando”

“Waltzing With Brando” is part paradise fantasy, part character study, and part cautionary tale about the gap between vision and reality.

Set against the gorgeous backdrop of Tahiti, the film follows Marlon Brando (played uncannily by Billy Zane) at the height of his fame in the late ’60s, when he bought a remote, uninhabitable island and set his sights on building the world’s first fully sustainable eco-retreat. To help make this dream happen, he ropes in the little-known but idealistic Los Angeles architect Bernard Judge (Jon Heder). The unlikely duo sets off on an ambitious project that’s as much about survival and logistics as it is about philosophy and idealism.

The movie mixes styles in a way that shouldn’t work, but does. Sometimes Brando breaks the fourth wall and talks directly to the audience, while other parts lean heavily on voiceover narration. That combination can feel uneven, but it also adds to the sense that we’re inside Brando’s head and bouncing between his grand visions and his messy reality.

Zane is so convincing as Brando that it’s eerie. He doesn’t just look the part, he captures the eccentric rhythms, the contradictions, and the odd charisma that made Brando both larger-than-life and strangely fragile. Co-star Heder doesn’t bring that much to the table, but he is perfectly competent in his role. To be fair, he’s mostly overshadowed by Zane.

The story is interesting, but director Bill Fishman inserts a lot of filler. There’s also plenty of indulgence on display, with multiple scenes showing Brando and his companions living it up in Tahiti. There’s excessive drinking, partying, skinny-dipping, and embracing the hedonistic side of his “escape from Hollywood.” The island looks like paradise, and the film understandably leans into that escapist vibe. But it never forgets the tension between Brando’s big dream and Judge’s grounded practicality. Brando wants to change the world, while Judge wants to make sure there’s actually a roof that doesn’t collapse in the first storm.

At its heart, “Waltzing With Brando” isn’t just about an island or an eco-project. It’s about the relationship between two very different men: one, a dreamer and the other, a pragmatist. Fishman captures the way the pair’s unlikely friendship grows while they try to bridge the gap between vision and reality.

By: Louisa Moore