Broadcast News (1987)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Fresh and Exciting

Don't Believe the Hype

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

As a big fan of James L Brooks and the many TV shows and movies he has created, I hated this movie. It is like he stuffed the "The Mary Tyler Moore show" into a simmering pot: the intimidating, annoying, OCD producer "Mary"(I really like Holly Hunter but hated her in this movie); "Murray" the sensitive, affectionate, humorous colleague who's trying to get promoted; an actually professional and charming tho still style over substance anchorman "Ted Baxter", and even a "Sue Ann" with a big closet. (More precisely, the last 3 seasons of MTM, when the show sort of turned into "The newsroom show" itself. ) A great deal of the plot resembles the TV show: "Murray" falls in love with "Mary", "Mary" gets a big promotion, and the dramatic ending too (not to spoil too much)! He added some this and that, spiced everything up, gave "Mary" a little more character, put in some more romance etc. After that, he puts on the "head" and "tail", and that's it.Let MTM aside and speaking the movie itself, the opening "childhood" scenes seems unnecessary and irrelevant, (Although the opening does do a great job at arising my interest in the movie, it's cute and sort of a joke on the people that work in news) none of the characters reflected any of the scenes later in the movie. The ending is corny and doesn't really add anything to the movie or whatever it is that it's trying to express. The rest, the plot, is complicated and confusing: At first I thought this was a movie about the "newsroom", the news staff family and the excitement of broadcasting news. Which makes sense because the name is "Broadcast News". And indicating from the opening scene, the three characters are identified by their professions, instead of "future girl in love" "future best friend of girl""future man the girl's in love with". Then, I thought this is a love story: he loves her, but she loves him, and he loves somebody else...then, I thought it's really about friendship: she's been in love with the wrong man the whole time, maybe she will go to the one who really loves her...I thought I'd found out in the end, but the ending doesn't explain or define anything.It's none and maybe all of them, and it doesn't do any of them well. There's no clear plot, just random events happening and emotions flying around. In all it's flavorful but hard to swallow.I wasn't inspired nor touched perhaps a little stimulated by the intensity of the news room, which I expected but not getting nearly enough. And comedy? Yes there were one-liners and a mild slapstick scene, but then I might as well just watch the MTM.

Broadcast News was a highly informational movie which introduced me to the stress, worry, and pressure of working at a News Station. No one's spot for anything is ever 100% secure. Jane taught me that through hard work and perseverance, anything is possible. She worked hard her entire life to get to where she ended up at the end of the movie. Aaron taught me that sometimes even the things we want the most don't end up mattering in the end, because everything will turn out alright. And finally, Tom taught me that sometimes we all need a little help from other people. Although I personally wouldn't fake tears to get there, Tom ended up exactly where he wanted. Broadcast News is an 8/10 movie for me.

I unfortunately had to watch this atrocity in my Journalism class, and I plan on never watching it again. I learned two things from this cinematic disaster: grabbing your lover's armpit with passion is uncomfortable for other people to watch and the ugly friend never gets the girl. Around 37% of the film contains either an awkward silence or a cringeworthy act of affection, such as Aaron kissing Jane on the shoulder and Tom groping Jane's chest in the middle of a public park. If you are forced against your will to witness this pathetic excuse of a movie, play a game that consists of blasting "Make Up Your Mind" by Deana Carter whenever Jane opens her mouth, because all you'll be missing is either a series of contradictory statements or one of her famous awkward silences. Jane's constant indecisiveness confirms that she is a disgrace to the female leads and heroines who confidently face our male-dominated society. Instead of coming off as a lovable goof, Jane comes off as emotionally unstable and psychotic. The ending was depressing and abrupt, which, in all honestly, didn't surprise me at all. The news aspect of the film was decent, but it could have been more informative. Overall, this movie was the cinematic equivalent to waiting in line at your local Target: nothing special.

Full of journalistic humor and complicated love lives, this movie will satisfy anyone who likes watching individuals stress over their everyday lives. The pressure of deadlines, tension between friends and an ominous job-layoff threat looming overhead keeps viewers enticed to see what happens next. Upon looking for a film with a happy ending, this movie may not meet the requirements. It ends rather abruptly, leaving viewers still to wonder what will happen next. However, the film does feature many realistic events from the world of journalism. Viewers will smile and laugh along to the movie as characters casually bury the lead.