Trumbo – Film Review by Fran Winston

Directed by: Jay Roach

Starring: Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane, Helen Mirren, Louis C.K., Elle Fanning, John Goodman, Michael Stuhlbarg

In cinemas February 5th

The true story of screenwriter Dalton Trumbo is stranger than anything he could have committed to the page. As a supporter of the communist party in 50s Hollywood he found himself blacklisted following the McCarthy Trials. Sent to prison and vilified by his peers his once glittering career seemed over but Trumbo was not a man to take something like this lying down and following his release he came up with an ingenious way of continuing to work and – more importantly- make money to support his family. He got another writer to pitch his work as their screenplay and in no time at all he was writing hit movies again and even winning Oscars. He also started writing for a small B Movie studio under a pseudonym and helped other people similarly affected by the blacklist by engaging them to work there.

Of course the blacklists were eventually lifted and Trumbo did eventually receive all the accolades due to him, perhaps thanks in no small part to Kirk Douglas insisting that he got credit for his writing work on the epic Spartacus. However the echoes of the era loomed large for many years and many people lost their livelihoods as a result.

Here Trumbo is played by Bryan Cranston who manages to make the somewhat curmudgeonly Trumbo actually seem likeable! Revelling in the writers eccentricities – such as writing in the bath – he manages to find the humour in what could have been a very serious character in other hands. He is ably supported by Diane Lane as his wife Cleo who imbues the character with a strength alongside a sense of despair as their lives fall apart. Louis C.K. as Arlen Hird (who is actually a composite character) is a revelation. Best known for his comedy he manages to play it straight here and convey the gravitas of his characters situation without resorting to parody or black humour. In fact one of the weakest performances (it pains me to say because I love her) comes from Helen Mirren as legendary showbiz gossip columnist Hedda Hopper. While Hopper was indeed a completely over the top individual Mirren’s performance is just slightly too much the wrong side of caricature to sit comfortably.

Aside from the performances this boasts some wonderful cinematography and editing, which really transport the audience back to the era. However at times the script wavers and the pace drags. Apparently quite a bit of dramatic licence was taken with the facts so this may be the cause of the latter but it is unfortunate whatever the reason. Another flaw is that it shamelessly defends communism rather than taking a neutral stance which would allow the audience to make up their own minds.

In trying to make a glossy biopic about a very non glossy individual, Roach has diluted some of the key facts and somewhat deified his subject matter all of which drags this movie down. While it is wonderful at times it does get far too bogged down by its subject matter as it plods along. It is completely saved by Cranston though (who has deservedly been nominated for an Oscar for the role) whose performance should ensure that it is not just movie historians and geeks who flock to this.