Trumbo (2008)

Sorry, this movie sucks

An Exercise In Nonsense

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This episode of "American Masters" was originally a film and was later shown on PBS as part of this series. Interestingly, before this it was a play--all written by Christopher Trumbo and all about his father, the famous blacklisted screenwriter, Dalton Trumbo. Back during the Red Scare Trumbo was one of the infamous hostile witnesses who refused to cooperate with the House of Representatives and movie industry in their effort to ferret out suspected commies. As a result, his career was severely damaged...practically destroyed. How he learned to get around this blacklist as well as what he thought about all this is addressed in the film. How? Well, a variety of highly respected actors all recreate the writings of Trumbo and provide his voice (as he died back in 1975). Additionally, many people who knew him or knew of him contribute to this look at the very cranky writer's life and career. Well worth seeing--very well made and compelling today in this climate of political correctness--not exactly comparable to the blacklists and Red Scare but at times darned close!

Through a focus on the life of Dalton Trumbo (1905-1976), this film examines the effects on individuals and families of a congressional pursuit of Hollywood Communists after World War II. Trumbo was one of several writers, directors, and actors who invoked the First (rather than the typical Fifth) Amendment in refusing to answer questions under oath.We have insights from Donald Sutherland; we also have Michael Douglas, Nathan Lane, Brian Dennehy and Liam Neeson reading letters in their smooth, rich voices. What a great way to welcome audiences to the story of political persecution.Trumbo himself says that "people joined the Communist Party because they felt it was doing something". He never really comes out and embraces Communism, but the whole era was a mess -- America allied with the Russians in World War II, and once the Nazis were defeated, anyone with Communist sympathies was tossed aside.This film also has great archive footage of Walt Disney and others.

The one about the famous poet who constantly wrote his friends asking for money.Dalton Trumbo was one of the people who ended up on the Hollywood Blacklist for backing the wrong horse in the Cold War. Even though his Russian counterpart would have been shot and buried in a shallow grave, this guy whined because no one wanted to hire him.Hollywood is a business, and having "Screenplay by a dirty, stinkin' communist" wasn't going to sell your movie. Sorry, it just wasn't.So the movies is a bunch of spoiled Hollywood actors reading lines of Trumbo's whining letters about how life was so unfair to him as opposed to the 19 year old kid who got killed and buried in Korea somewhere. Or something. Oh, yeah, and he needed money. All the time.It's one of those documentaries where you kind of sympathize with the subject going in and end up hating him going out, and you don't really think that was the film maker's intent.

Trumbo is undoubtedly a hero for his dogged determination to stand by his principles, to hold in contempt a truly contemptible congressional committee and to suffer the dire consequences and outcast status, along with his family, essentially for the rest of his life.The McCarthyist period rightfully remains one of the most shameful in the history of the so-called "Land of the Free".It was great to see the interviews with Trumbo himself and with those that knew him, however I found the numerous readings of his often interminably long letters a drag. One or two would have been sufficient to get the tenor of his correspondence style.This film does not justify the 96 minutes feature format. It is really a documentary and the usual 50 minutes would have done it nicely.