Just in time for the Oscars, I have managed to catch up with the only film that I hadn’t previously seen that is up for a major award. Bryan Cranston is the rank outsider to win Best Actor for his performance as Dalton Trumbo, the celebrated screenwriter who was blacklisted for being a communist in the 1940s and imprisoned in 1950 for not co-operating with the US Senate’s House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).
Most of the best biopic of recent times have succeeded by concentrating on a small period in their subject’s life (e.g. Lincoln) or a defined number of points in their life (e.g. Steve Jobs). Trumbo tries the more traditional approach of telling the bulk of the writer’s adult life. It is a tribute to the good work done by director Jay Roach and writer John McNamara, that the film is largely successful. Cramming a lot into a two-hour running time, but without making the film bloated, this is largely compelling stuff.
I do have a couple of criticisms. I could have done with less about his family life, which sometimes seems to be there only to show that Trumbo was not the heroic figure the rest of the story may suggest, and the direction lacks a bit of flair, which does give it a made for TV movie feel at times.
However, the scenes of the HUAC investigations are very well realised. Sticking very closely to the facts and the actual testimonies, the ridiculousness of the witch-hunts is conveyed well, without getting bogged-down in too much detail. Even better, are the scenes and characters that appear from the golden age of Hollywood. Admittedly, I’m a sucker for that stuff, and my pleasure was heightened by some of the supporting performances, particularly Louis CK as a fellow writer, Alan Tudyk as Ian Mclellan Hunter and Michael Stuhlbarg as the conflicted Edward G. Robinson. Best of all is John Goodman is a brilliant small part as producer Frank King, though Helen Mirren comes across as a littler one-dimensional as the hideous Hedda Hopper.
So, does Cranston deserve to win on Sunday? No, but I can see why he was nominated, as his larger than life performance at the centre of a period of history that needs to be remembered is great fun.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10