Movie Review: TRUMBO

Lately, I seem to surrounded by a lot of 1950's American Socio-Political themes; from the Coen brother's comedic satire "Hail, Caesar!" to the time-traveling-off-to-save-JFK, Stephen King science fiction "11.23.63", to the brilliant biographical "TRUMBO" 

I just saw "Trumbo" recently and I must say that I definitely got more than I bargained for. You see, I was expecting a compelling biopic with powerful performances and I got exactly that, the bonus was that we (Paul and I) found ourselves laughing at the well delivered wittily lines. I also found myself (just-me) tearing up (yes, the crybaby is at it, again) from some surprising heart breaking scenes. 

Academy Award Nominee for Best Actor, Bryan Cranston is Dalton Trumbo, the highest paid screenwriter in Hollywood (hence, the world), yet in the 1950's America is gripped with a fear of the red-faced terror-Communism. 

To satisfy, anti-Communist witch hunters in Congress, the HUAC or House of Un-American Activities Committee investigated hundreds of Americans, suspected of being Communist sympathizers. 

The investigation also made its way to Hollywood, putting the spotlight on Trumbo, along with nine other colleagues, they would later be known as "The Hollywood Ten" who refused to answer questions when they were called in Congress, denying the committee's right to ask them about their political beliefs and denouncing these hearings as a violation of their human rights. 

From these hearings would come "The Blacklist" a list of actors, directors, producers and screenwriters who could not find work just because they were associated or just suspected of being Communist supporters. Faced with an impending loss of livelihood and with a family to support Trumbo is forced to do the one thing he only knows how-to write. 

Trumbo wrote screenplays under false names, selling them to Colleagues who could work. He eventually wrote for less popular studios and continued writing in any name, other than his. 

Nothing can stop a true genius as two of Trumbo's screenplays, written under other names won an Oscar, now the Blacklist is coming to an end but without its share of survivors and victims. 

Bryan Cranston is a force to  be reckoned with in his role, he captures the strong and eccentric Trumbo and even owning his strange work habit of writing in a bathtub. Yes, soaking in a tub, complete with a make-shift table, complete with a glass of whisky and a cigarette in hand.  

Cranston is surround by an equally strong cast, with Helen Mirren playing Hedda Hopper, a former actress turned columnist who supported the Hollywood Blacklist, going as much as to personally making sure that Trumbo and his ilk, never get to work again. As usual, Mirren is a delicious menace, appearing onscreen with a wide variety of hats and always looking out for her best interest. 

I always love seeing John Goodman on screen, he is like everyone's lovable uncle. In the film, Goodman is Frank King of the King Brothers Production, who employs Trumbo (under different names of course) to write for them. 

8.5 out of 10, "TRUMBO" is the story of a writer who was silenced because of his beliefs and yet he was still able to find his voice and do the one thing all of his detractors worked hard to make sure he couldn't -work. Hollywood is an interesting place, made up of different people with different beliefs and in the 1950's they were persecuted because of it.  We have come a long way since then but it is stories like Trumbo's which should serve as a reminder that we should never go along those dark ways again.

"TRUMBO" is now showing in Cinemas and is distributed by Solar Pictures. 

Movie News: TRUMBO in Cinemas March 16

While everyone was raving about Leonardo Di Caprio's performance as Hugh Glass in the award-winning "The REVENANT" which subsequently won Di Caprio his long awaited Oscar win for Best Actor. A moment, which has been the subject of countless memes and which the whole internet has been waiting for. 

Yet, among the worthy Best Actor Nominations is one performance that is worth seeing on the big screen and this is none other than from Bryan Cranston, who is well known for his critically acclaimed role in the TV Series "Breaking Bad".  You can hear him in "Kung Fu Panda 3" as Po's long lost father 'Li'. 

Cranston's Oscar Nominated role for Best Actor comes from playing Dalton Trumbo, who in the 1940's was one of the highest paid screenwriters in the world. Trumbo penned movie classics, including the Oscar-nominated "Kitty Folyle" and "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo". 

Yet Trumbo's success comes in a difficult time in America, when the threat of a new Wolrd War is threatening over the horizon, as the relations between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. deteriorated and the fear of the “Red Menace” reached unprecedented heights. A group called the House of Un-American Activities otherwise known as H.U.A.C., investigated thousands of Americans suspected of being communist sympathizers. Nobody was spared, when teachers, military contractors, civil servants, journalists, and others lost their jobs, their reputations, and even their families as suspicion and paranoia swept the nation. And Hollywood land and its denizens suffered from its claws and pangs.

In the late 1940s, the HUAC paid special attention to Hollywood, aimed at rooting out communists in the film industry. The Blacklist became a dreaded document when scores of prominent actors, directors, producers and screenwriters were publicly berated about their association with an array of organizations deemed to be “un-American”. Threatened with the loss of their livelihoods, many witnesses gave evidences against friends and colleagues. Ten of those called the “Hollywood Ten” refused to testify and answer any questions, denying the committee’s right to ask them about their political beliefs and denouncing the hearings as a violation of their civil rights. All ten were sentenced to prison for contempt of Congress. The best known among them was Dalton Trumbo.

“Trumbo was still known as a communist, but people don’t realize that he was actually a patriot. He was a communist in the late 30s and early 40s, when that meant you were pro-labor and anti-Jim Crow, and you fought for civil rights for African-Americans,” says screenwriter John McNamara. “It had nothing to do with Russia and everything to do with how an already great country could improve itself”.

Trumbo’s story really breaks down to human rights as U.S. citizens are denied to free speech and assembly. Trumbo and the other blacklisters were not only denied those rights – but persecuted without having committed any crimes. He was a true patriot – he loved his country. But the system failed him. His story is still relevant today, as the world in which we are living has many people facing too much intrusion from their government.