Should you watch this at weekday movie ticket prices? OK.
Should you watch this at weekend movie ticket prices? If you’re interested in Hollywood’s history.
Score: 3.5/5
Secret ending? No, but the credits are fun to watch.
Running time: 124 minutes (~2 hours)
‘Trumbo’ is a semi-biographical drama based on the life of screenwriter Dalton Trumbo. It centres around the events that led him to be blacklisted in the film community. It stars Bryan Cranston (Dalton Trumbo), Diane Lane (Cleo Fincher Trumbo), Helen Mirren (Hedda Hopper), Louis C. K. (Arlen Hird), Elle Fanning (Nikola Trumbo), Michael Stuhlbarg (Edward G. Robinson), Alan Tudyk (Ian McLellan Hunter), and Dean O’Gorman (Kirk Douglas). It is rated PG-13.
I must confess that since I share the same occupation as the protagonist, I had high expectations for “Trumbo.” And it did give us amazing performances in the conflict between Trumbo and Hopper. While the dialogue was witty and enjoyable, it failed to establish the exposition well, which is its most critical function. The story itself also wasn’t as focused as it could have been, resulting in a slightly lengthy film. Despite its achievements, “Trumbo” still had so much more potential it could have lived up to.
Highlights
Trumbo’s character development
Bryan Cranston plays the outspoken Trumbo over a period of ten years, and his concerns and demeanour changes as he ages. We first meet him as a brash proponent of his cause, a man so full of himself. As fate deals him the wrong cards and he struggles with the responsibilities thrust upon him, you see him mellowing even as his ideals haunt him. It’s this character growth that overcomes Trumbo’s abrasive personality, making us root for him in the end.
Helen Mirren’s excellence performance as Hedda Hopper
Hopper is a witch, though a better term to describe her also rhymes with that word. She’s so fixated on bringing down her enemies and delights so much in their downfall that you can’t wait to see her defeated. Yet she also brings much subtext to her performances, with her dialogue revealing the pivotal moments in her background that shaped her character. Her portrayal elicits strong emotions from the audience, making her a villain that you love to hate.
Touching father-daughter relationship
There’s a surprising amount of family drama in the form of Trumbo and his daughter Nikola’s relationship. It’s this part of the film that humanises Trumbo beyond the sarcastic loudmouth that he is, and also creates the struggle between his ideals and responsibilities. In the end, we see how much daughter is like father, for better or for worse.
Letdowns
Doesn’t establish set up well
Ironically for a film about a screenwriter, the writing isn’t too clear. The opening fails to explain enough about the blacklist and the Communist threat of the times, and therefore doesn’t establish the gravity of the situation. It’s only through context that we understand the nuances of the era, but by then so much of the film has passed that it has lost its use.
Anticlimactic finish
The climax has absolutely no tension. The way in which our protagonist overcomes his obstacles feels passive and restrained, and his eventual victory feels more like the result of lucky circumstances than concerted effort on his part. As a result, it’s uncertain what the climax is until the film has ended, which goes to show how little of an impact it had on the film.
“Trumbo” could have been so much more as a film. As it stands though, it’s still a fine piece of cinema.
“Trumbo” opens in cinemas 25 February, 2016 (Thursday).
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