Gary Oldman stars as screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz in “Mank.”

Usually, by mid-December, movie theaters are stocked with prestige, buzzy titles hoping to get into the “for your consideration” conversations. This year is very, very different with many Oscar-bait releases postponed.

For David Fincher’s latest film, “Mank,” a theatrical release was never really at its forefront to begin with as it was always destined to hit streaming. The Netflix original has all the trappings of those award-contending films we see this time of year, and it may just get into some of the conversations, but it ultimately falls short of being a shoe-in for a few statuettes.

Based on real-life loquacious and alcoholic screenwriter of the ’20s through the ’40s Herman Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman) and his writing of landmark film “Citizen Kane” after he was pegged to pen it by director, actor, producer and wunderkind Orson Wells (Tom Burke).

“Mank” flips between Mankiewicz’s life through his writing and through flashbacks highlighting his friendships with actress Marion Davies (Amanda Seyfried) and her lover William Randolph Hearst (Charles Dance), who would be the inspiration for Kane.

We see Mank and all his wit navigate through his studio work, his political ramblings, his drinking, gambling and platonic flirtations sometimes in plain sight of his wife Sara (Tuppence Middleton).

The film is packed with plot. So much plot and so much stunningly realized dialogue that you can easily get left in the dust.

There are a lot of things that do work in “Mank,” from the acting (there are no slouches) to the stunning cinematography, sound design and score that work tirelessly at achieving that quintessential 1930s movie look and sound. It was even in black and white and using a monaural sound mix with a hint of an echo that makes it feel like you’re in an old movie house and has a few well placed “cigarette burns” at the corner of the screen that is an indicator that an old movie reel has been switched.

Technically speaking, the undertaking of “Mank” is brilliant.

But it quickly unravels with its excessively bloaty plot.

Written by Fincher’s late father Jack Fincher, it has been a passion project for the younger to get the biography made since the ’90s. So it is understandable that every piece is meticulous.

Unfortunately, the script tries to pack too much into the 2-hour, 11-minute run time and every minute of it is felt.

There are about three different stories being told. The first is Mank’s life and relationship with Hearst and Davies, there’s the California gubernatorial election of 1934 and Mank’s outspoken support (against his boss Louis B. Mayer) of Democratic candidate Upton Sinclair (who is surprisingly played by Bill Nye, as in the Science Guy), and finally the writing of “Citizen Kane” and dealings with the upstart Wells.

Any one of these threads could have been wonderfully explored in their own films, but together it all feels too much.

Foremost, for me as an undying fan of classic Hollywood, its history and all the film nerdy things that Fincher achieves to make it look and sound authentic to the era it’s placed in, it doesn’t feel like a 1930s movie.

Which is, of course fine, this is 2020, but when it tries so hard in every aspect to achieve some kind of authenticity, it still doesn’t feel complete in that regard.

We’re left with a Mank that hasn’t grown a whole lot from the beginning, the side characters are not fully fleshed out with a few exceptions and regardless of how technically perfect it is, it misses it on a basic storytelling level.

“Mank”

131 minutes

Rating: R for some language

3 stars