Review of Trumbo (2007) by Tori H — 11 Nov 2015

An entertaining and snappy, if actually fuzzy account of the prolific, gifted and politically explosive screenwriter. Bryan Cranston eventually wrestles a legion of tics and quirks into an engaging portrait of a complex, challenging and brave figure, who for over a decade resisted the power of both Hollywood and Washington and overcame the blacklist with the sheer force of his talent and will. Trumbo's stubborn nature and commitment to principle (even when he was wrong) earned him a year in federal prison for contempt of congress, but it also fortified him during his years in exile, and gave him the strength to crank out multiple Oscar winning scripts that he couldn't put his name on.

The supporting cast is so stacked with stellar performers like Helen Mirren, John Goodman, Stephen Root and Alan Tudyk that the movie never sags, despite an over abundance of political diatribes and fits of sentimentalism. Ironically a movie about a heroic storyteller is saddled with the pedestrian direction of Jay Roach, who displays all the cinematic flair of a man making a Cialis commercial for a quick buck. Fortunately Cranston is wonderful, and always capable of elevating the material to heights it otherwise wouldn't have touched.