Review of Trumbo (2007) by Hardy C — 28 Nov 2015

No, this is not as good a film as those Trumbo wrote for. But nevertheless it is a story both timely and long overdue. Now that many intolerant Amerikans have decided to demonize an entire group of people they don't understand or agree with (Muslims), a film like TRUMBO reminds us that such tendencies and bigotries are interwoven within our national fabric.

"Back then" it was communists, a group that found itself vilified and persecuted despite their struggle for the poor and oppressed in America. Dalton Trumbo, played brilliantly by Cranston, and his ideological colleagues in Hollywood, found themselves ostracized and turned into pariahs by the US government.

"The Blacklist" deprived people of their livelihoods, families and in some cases, their lives. This movie describes how Dalton beat the system by writing anonymously for second rate movie producers, eventually having one of his screenplays win an Oscar.

Hedda Hopper, played by that perennial fox, Helen Mirren, was an absolute bitch, using her gossip column to promote and strengthen the Blacklist. Eventually a pair of actors and directors had the balls to defy the Blacklist and it quickly collapsed.

I liked the movie and its portrayals of some of Hollywood's iconic figures such as John Wayne, Edward G Robinson and Kirk Douglas.