Review of Trumbo (2015) by Misadventurer — 01 Jan 2016

Trumbo Triumphant.

By jd ep.

He fought fire with oil. Dalton Trumbo, novelist turned screenwriter, admitted Communist during the early days of the Cold War, winner of two Academy Awards while on the Hollywood Blacklist, seemingly neverTrumbo Triumphant.

By jd ep.

He fought fire with oil. Dalton Trumbo, novelist turned screenwriter, admitted Communist during the early days of the Cold War, winner of two Academy Awards while on the Hollywood Blacklist, seemingly never saw a fight not worth getting in. Bryan Cranston's performance as the larger than life literary figure captures the subversive qualities of a man who was torn between two world one where he was a warrior for the rights of the working man, and the other, living in the Ivory Tower of being one of Hollywood's most sought after screenwriters, during a rather contentious time in Tinseltown's past. The film spans 30+ years of Trumbo's most turbulent times, from the early meetings of the Hollywood Communist Party to their trials of committing Contempt of Congress by flippantly disregarding the validity of the House UnAmerican Activities Committees's witch hunt, as well as when Trumbo went on live TV to declare he wrote the Academy Award winning 'The Brave One' under a pen name. The film acts as both time capsule, and history lesson; highlighting the grandiosity of the upper crust, hypocrisy of power and in the end does what many Oscar hopeful films do, it makes you love Hollywood at the end.

Masterfully directed by Jay Roach, who started primarily as a comedy director, notably of the Austin Powers films, but he's recently been focusing on the Political arena, the 2016 Presidential Election being around the corner may show some parallels between the likable, over the top socialist Dalton Trumbo and a certain Senator from Vermont. Weaving archival newsreel footage in with what was shot for the film, may be a little iffy, depending on rules imposed by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, though it feels like Trumbo has a solid shot at taking home a few Oscars. The 124 minute runtime flies by, there are laughs abound in an otherwise very serious movie, a great blend of humor and importance. The production design sets the scene perfectly and the score is engaging, adopting an almost Tom Waitsian knock and whir of a typewriter for montage sequences. The cast of supporting characters is solid, with Elle Fanning playing Dalton's eldest daughter, a social rights crusader in her own right, scorned by her father's workaholism. Stephen Root and John Goodman play the King Brothers, schlocky producers who churn and burn productions on the cheap, that hire Trumbo and his otherwise unemployable friends during the Blacklist years, of which Alan Tudyk and Louis C.K. are members of the infamous "Hollywood 10." There are also a few larger than life Hollywood characters that add color to the film with JAG's David James Elliot as John Wayne, The Hobbit's Dean O'Gorman as Kirk Douglas and German actor Christian Berkel as Otto Preminger, the Austrian Alfred Hitchcock. The lovely Diane Lane felt underutilized here as little more than a doting wife with a past, but she keeps the family together during their most tumultuous times. Helen Mirren as Hedda Hopper, Hollywood's premier reporter might seem familiar, to younger audiences, like Harry Potter's Dolores Umbridge, a very prim and proper conservative foil with considerable power and an axe to grind.

Finally, for the man himself. Bryan Cranston as Dalton Trumbo. With Cranston's oeuvre of television work, it's plain to see the man is a chameleon, disappearing into his roles, though with each you know Cranston is in control. Almost on the verge of a Burgess Meredith era Penguin at times, the larger than life Dalton Trumbo was a chain-smoking, whiskey drinking rabble rouser, who wasn't afraid of who he made enemies with, as long as they knew he stood his ground, to the point where he dares John Wayne to punch him in the face to prove a point. Not an imposing man, aside from his mustache towards the end, you simply don't see people like Dalton Trumbo anymore. He had a way with words that puts most writers to shame, and as the film depicts, he had a preternatural ability to crank out scripts. Though this is clearly an awards worthy performance, Cranston's reverence for Dalton is sincere. You never feel like Bryan is just playing this guy too big, you feel like you're actually watching the real Dalton Trumbo, seeing into his world, his idiosyncrasies, what makes him tick, and why he doesn't give up. Maddening as it may be to those around him.

Trumbo is a triumph that could lighten the day of even the most cynical of the Hollywood Elite, and remind them of why they got into the business in the first place.