Review of Network (1976) by Andy F — 26 Mar 2018

Network has a brilliant premise and story. I really liked how it just pulled me into it's story right from the beginning. The different messages and ideas expressed in this movie are something to really admire. Not many movies cover these topics the way this movie does.

It's insane to see how greedy and how far these execs will go just to get there ratings up and receive more money in return. Meanwhile, they don't see that Howard has indeed been given the gift of light which is that of the path to Enlightenment.

Robert Duvall brings a whole new definition to what it means to be a charming vicious bastard. Howard's speech was amazing. It's so weird to think how they took what could be a prophet, and make a dollar out of it, exploit it in some manner. That was pretty comical how all the execs were gathered at that one black guys house. I guess they sold out in a sense.

This is vey rare to say, but this is one of the first times when I hope for something bad to happen. Whether it's Howard blowing his brains out on live television or that one group of fundamentalists getting gunned down during there TV segment.

This movie has some great lines that I wish I could use in real life when I really need to use them. I really admire the thought, attention to detail, and messages that were conveyed in this movie. The amount of information is staggering. And seeing how different generations of people represent different meanings is interesting to watch. Like how Dunaway's character represents a young generation which has become numb and used to the brutalities of death and war and violence that goes on in the world. I figured that these savage bastards would do what they did to Howard at the end. It's funny how it came back and bit them in the ass. This is a pretty cynical movie, on the inside. Especially with what the narrator said at the end about Howard. Sidney Lumet did a fantastic job at not painting what could be a very dark movie. Instead he made a pretty straight forward movie with a very subtle dark undertone to accompany it.

Overall, the movie is a wonderful salute to the kind of delusional bullshit that goes on within the madness that we call news and the media. This movie has terrific and heart stopping acting. It's phenomenal. Faye Dunaway is exquisite and her character is probably the most interesting, very complex. I feel the need to have to revisit this movie in order to absorb all of the information. Awesome movie!