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| Bryan Cranston looks dejectedly if stern out over his typewriter on the poster for Jay Roach's Trumbo |
QUICK REVIEW:
Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (Roman Holiday (1953)) gets into trouble due to his Communist ideals in post WWII America, where a fear-fueled distrustfulness also sweep movie workers, who get blacklisted by the hundreds.
Trumbo, arguably one of the great screenwriters of all time, has a personal story that merits a movie, and great New Mexican filmmaker Jay Roach (Meet the Parents (2000)) has made a good film on this basis here.
At the center is Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad (2008-13)), who fills out the title role very well. Helen Mirren (The Prince of Egypt (1998)) is rather the heavy of the film as slanderous society journalist Hedda Hoopper, and Diane Lane (Jumper (2008)) is good as Trumbo's more than a little wonderful wife Cleo. Roger Bart (Hostel: Part II (2007)) is great as Trumbo's faltering agent, and John Goodman (Monsters, Inc. (2001)) provides some of the film's fun as a Poverty Row producer, who among other things wants the master screenwriter to produce a 'gorilla movie' script. His role is reminiscent of his Hollywood producer part in Argo (2012). Here he is well partnered with the also funny Stephen Root (Selma (2014)).
As part of the film's plot, super stars of the time John Wayne (The Searchers (1956)), Edward G. Robinson (Little Caesar (1931)) and Kirk Douglas (Spartacus (1960)) figure prominently in the film. David James Elliott (Mad Men (2014), TV-series), Michael Stuhlbarg (A Serious Man (2009)) and Dean O'Gorman (The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)), who play the respective parts, can't be blamed, but if one is familiar with the larger-than-life people they play, then it is hard to imagine that they are them.
TV writer John McNamara (Aquarius (2015-16)) has written the screenplay, adapted from the late Bruce Alexander Cook's (The Beat Generation (1971)) Dalton Trumbo (1977). While the film at times moves forward in a bit of a pedestrian fashion, it also carries many good cards on its hand. It shines a light on a dismal time in American history, in which personal freedom was under attack by fearful and hysterical Americans. - A part of history that is also relevant to us as a reminder today of the liberties that we hold sacred, and that we don't risk crushing them in our quest for the best and safest world possible.
It is reported online that Trumbo's making Robinson name names for the HUAC hearings is falsification. If this is really so, then it is a serious blemish on an otherwise good film, for it is unacceptable to tarnish one formidable star's name in the process of reestablishing another's.
Related review:
Jay Roach: Dinner for Schmucks/Dinner with Schmucks (2010) - Carell carries Roach's flawed but utterly hilarious comedy
Watch the trailer for the film here
Cost: 15 mil. $
Box office: 8.1 mil. $
= Huge flop
[Trumbo premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and had its American release in November. The film received mixed reviews with Armond White of National Review criticizing its "whitewashing the dark history of communist ideologies." However, as a non-communist myself, I don't think that Trumbo needed to portray that dark history, as it wasn't its story really. Cranston is nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Trumbo. The film has grossed 7.7 mil. $ (95 % of the total gross) in North America, with the 2nd and 3rd biggest markets being the UK with 0.2 mil. $ (2.5 %) and Brazil with 0.1 mil. $ (1.2 %). The film has only been released in 8 countries outside of North America. Trumbo is fresh at 73 % with a 6.6 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Trumbo?
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