Review of Network (1976) by Ivan D — 26 Mar 2010

One of the best ensemble films ever made that, thanks to director Sidney Lumet and screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky, has able to balance the sharp satire and the emotional drama. In a more straightforward film, this could have been a relentless stretch of caricature characters, all leading to an inevitable message in the end.

Peter Finch delivered an unforgettable performance as the mad Howard Beale, but though he is the one much remembered if people hear about this film, it is William Holden's turn as Max Schumacher that was the heart of the whole film.

It was almost a necessity for an Oscar-winning performance to contain great amount of emotional content, but Faye Dunaway gave a performance so heartless, emotionless and cold, that for me, her character belongs to the rogue gallery of cinema history.

And Robert Duvall, famously known as of that time to be the soft-spoken consigliere in "The Godfather", was ecstatic and throwing unstoppable rants as Hackett, while Ned Beatty, although a brief role, gave a great portrayal of a TV executive, with saracsm and sharp wit.

It can be noticed in this review that majority of the praise I gave was for the actors, why not? It was an actor-powered film, and it was clear that Sidney Lumet gave way for them to shine, but he still left an indelible mark of a great director.

"Network" was a satire of the maddened and media-frenzied world of ours, but it was also about how heartless media people can be just to get rid of a "lousy rating".