Review of Trumbo (2015) by John C — 06 Dec 2015
Trumbo, the new movie starring Bryan Cranston, is a performance that touched my heart. But how can that be? The Globe and Mail review says the movie "suffers from a dull and slow-moving script." The New York Times says it is "a patchwork of fact and fiction, mixing in the odd bit of newsreel with a great many dull, visually flat and poorly lighted dramatic scenes.".
I don't get it. Did we see the same film? Is it because both these reviewers are female and any portrayal of the Hollywood 10, who were all male, and since this story took place mainly in the 1940s and 1950s, is showing a society where women generally conformed to now-reviled stereotypes? Just asking.
How should Hollywood tell Trumbo's story, really the story of how he and his wife and family survived the black list? In the movie, I saw and felt the deadening fear from the witchhunts of the House Unamerican Affairs Committee.
I saw stories of courage, of betrayal, situations that outraged me, like how anyone could be sent to prison because he was judged in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer that famous question - are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party.
I saw how gossip worked and could destroy people. I saw how the media could project monstrous stereotypes onto to perfectly sane, normal people. I saw many, many echos from my contemporary life. I saw how corrosive fear can be, justifying almost anything and depriving people of their livelihoods.
In terms of entertainment value, I saw characters that I could relate to show a depth of humanity and strength that had me cheering them by the end. I saw a script that refused to go for cheap jolts and drama, which could have easily been slipped in, like showing a few of the suicides that the blacklist caused.
The movie certainly has some comic moments, and a great deal of wit. I certainly was never bored.
And you heard it here, Bryan Cranston will probably get an Oscar for this performance. It is stellar and I felt uplifted by it.
This review of Trumbo (2015) was written by John C on 06 Dec 2015.
Trumbo has generally received positive reviews.
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