Review – Trumbo

I love film history.  I love learning about new writers, directors, and actors.  I love learning about old movies.  I love learning about the past and how it affects current movies.  Dalton Trumbo was someone I had heard of, but never did any research on.  Trumbo’s story is pretty incredible and deserved to be told.  And while the film is entertaining and fascinating with a great lead performance, the focus of the film makes this a breezy, near drama-free film.

Trumbo tells the story of screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston), one of the best and most sought after screenwriters in Hollywood in the 1930’s and 40’s.  This all changes when Trumbo joined the Communist Party in 1947 and began questioning the ideas of the government.  Trumbo was called to testify to the the House Un-American Activities Group where he refused to give up any names of fellow communists, which landed him in jail for almost a year and had him blacklisted in Hollywood.  Trumbo then wrote screenplays under fake names while continuing to fight for what he and so many others around him believed.

Cranston will forever be known for his iconic role as Walter White in T.V.’s Breaking Bad (2008-2013).  I was a little worried about his career post-Walter White, especially in movies, because of how legendary the show and character are.  Cranston has had small roles in films like Drive (2011) and Argo (2012) but never had to carry a movie.  Well worry no more.  Cranston is the real deal.  He gives a wild and electric performance as Trumbo.  Trumbo was a man of big talent and even bigger ego.  He can punch out an Oscar-winning screenplay, while also yelling at his family for disturbing him while he writes and thinks in his office, which is really his bathtub.  Cranston balances the brilliant and barbaric Trumbo perfectly.  We also get some great supporting turns by Louis C.K., Michael Stuhlbarg, and a hilarious John Goodman.  Hellen Mirren is a lot of fun as a gossip reporter out for blood, no matter who it hurts.  And Diane Lane has one solid scene as Trumbo’s supportive wife Cleo, but for the most part, she just sadly stares as her husband and lets him do whatever he wants.  For such a great actress, this was a throwaway role.

Director Jay Roach has a history of doing politically charged dramedies, directing Recount (2008) and Game Change (2012) for HBO and that’s exactly where Trumbo belongs.  The whole film had a very T.V. movie feel to it.  The thing that Recount and Game Change have that Trumbo has as well is a very breezy, easy-going feel for such an important topic.  This is a movie about human rights and the fight that so many talented people in Hollywood were going through during this time and there really isn’t any drama to it in Trumbo.   The film is also too broadly focused.  The first part of the film is about Trumbo’s politcal fights, the second half is about him writing screenplays under a fake name.  I think the more interesting movie would have been about the screenplays and really focusing in on that part of his life.  They also hint at a pill-popping problem, the keyword being hint.  The film just needed a more contained story so it could flesh out some more drama and character development.

Trumbo is a fascinating movie.  What he and everyone else in Hollywood went through during that time was incredible.  Though the focus of the movie is too broad, the powerhouse performance by Bryan Cranston and the story are worth giving Trumbo a look.

MY RATING – 3/4

Have you seen Trumbo?  If so, what did you think?  What’s your favorite Bryan Cranston role?  Leave a comment, follow me on Twitter @kevflix, or follow my Facebook page via Kevflix.