Review: Captivating Performances Carry TRUMBO Biopic, Now on Blu-Ray, Digital HD

In the 1930s and '40s, there was no more sought after screenwriter than Dalton Trumbo. He was the highest paid writer in Hollywood, he was an Oscar nominee, and he was the winner of the National Book Award. However, beginning in 1945, for a span of 15 years, Trumbo did not write a single film; except that he wrote nine, and edited many more, winning two Academy Awards.

The ringleader of the "Hollywood 10," Trumbo, a member of the Communist Party, was blacklisted by the major movie studios, and was found in contempt of Congress by the House Un-American Activities Committee. Despite being shunned by the entire respectable filmmaking community, Trumbo continued to work under assumed names and fought for his inalienable rights as an American.

In the star-studded biopic TRUMBO, available today on Blu-Ray and Digital HD, Bryan Cranston plays the screenwriter and delivers a captivating, nuanced performance. For the role, Cranston has been nominated for his first Academy Award, up against stiff competition in Leonardo DiCaprio (THE REVENANT) and Matt Damon (THE MARTIAN). The film costars Diane Lane as Trumbo's long-suffering wife Cleo, Louis C.K. as his cantankerous fellow blacklistee Arlen Hird, Helen Mirren as gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, and John Goodman as Frank King, the B-movie studio exec who hired Trumbo despite his banishment.

A Tony and Emmy-winner for playing larger-than-life, imposing figures, Cranston's Trumbo is more witty and calculating than Lyndon Johnson or Walter White. He is a man that lives in two worlds that otherwise would seem mutually exclusive. Even though he openly admits to being a Communist and helps organize labor strikes, he is a wealthy man who enjoys his country house and private lake.

The film does a good job of showing not only the public fear of American communists, but the systemic machine that stoked that fear, personified by Mirren's Hopper and All-American movie star John Wayne (played by David James Elliott). The HUAC hearings, prison sentences, and loss of livelihood had far reaching implications in Hollywood, so much so that it cost some people their lives.

Despite the big picture implications of the Red Scare, the film is most impactful when dealing with the interpersonal issues that the witch-hunt brought about. Cranston, Lane, and Elle Fanning, who plays their oldest daughter Nikola, feel like a family that has been put through the crucible by no fault of their own, and are delicately trying to figure out what life looks like on the other side. Likewise, the friendship that develops between Trumbo and C.K.'s Hind, who is a composite character drawn from a number of real-life sources, is touching to witness.

Even with the film's dire subject matter, Cranston, C.K., Goodman, and the rest of the cast provide some very funny moments throughout, and Lane and Cranston share a beautiful, complex love affair. The film's deep ensemble features entertaining performances from Michael Stuhlbarg, Alan Tudyk, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Roger Bart, Stephen Root, and more.

Even though TRUMBO features a political and societal message that continues to carry considerable weight today, it does feel a bit simplistic and paint-by-numbers. In addition to a number of historical inaccuracies, especially concerning actor Edward G. Robinson, director Jay Roach and screenwriter John McNamara choose to nearly completely avoid the larger implications of international Communism. While there is no doubt that the persecution of American citizens for nothing more than their political beliefs is reprehensible, the film boils that down to an easily digestible black-and-white story, which scores modern-day political points, but ignores the worldwide atrocities carried out in the name of Communist ideals.

Despite compelling performance and a well-crafted screenplay, Cranston's was the only Oscar nomination that the film received.

The Blu-Ray features two short Bonus Features, "Who Is Trumbo?" and "Bryan Cranston Becomes Trumbo" that provide a little extra backstory for the character and the film.

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Check out the trailer for TRUMBO:

TRUMBO starring Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane, Helen Mirren, Louis C.K., John Goodman, Alan Tudyk, Elle Fanning, and more, is now available on Blu-Ray and Digital HD. TRUMBO is rated R for language including some sexual references.

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Did you think that TRUMBO deserved more recognition from the Academy? Let me know in the comments below, or on Twitter @BWWMatt. If you want to follow along with my "366 in 366" articles, you can check out #BWW366in366 on Twitter.

Banner Image:
Bryan Cranston. Photo Credit: Bleecker Street

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