Trumbo begins some time in the forties, with the titular character (Bryan Cranston) becoming one of the highest paid writers in Hollywood. But his success coincides with the height of Soviet paranoia in the United States, and as a member of the Communist party, Dalton Trumbo becomes a target of the House Un-American Activities Committee. He and nine other Hollywood writers are sent to prison for contempt of Congress, and are blacklisted from working for the studios following their release. The movie details how Trumbo then went on to continue to defy authority, and go on to write some of the biggest movies of his era.
The movie, though largely focusing on Dalton Trumbo, is really more about the Blacklist. The movie doesn't really attempt to understand Trumbo as a writer. In the movie, people keep telling him that his work is brilliant, but we are never really shown what it is in Trumbo that makes him so brilliant. The film is instead the story of an industry under siege, and how they all eventually came together to do the right thing. In this regard, the movie feels a little undercooked. Still, strong performances and snappy dialogue make this film a breeze to sit through.
It is easy to look at the Red Scare now and think of it as nothing but a few xenophobic hatemongers creating a witch hunt that caused suffering for thousands of people. The film certainly takes that view, making everybody involved in that matter out to be either villainous or just plain ignorant. Meanwhile, everyone accused of being a Communist was just a good American being oppressed by a corrupt system. The truth is a little more complicated than that, and the film does itself a disservice with the oversimplification. This story heads to a theme that presents more lovely shades of gray, but the scenes prior to this message don't build that case.
And so the film doesn't really work as a straight biographical picture, nor is it rigorous enough to be a fair depiction of a contentious time in history. Its pleasures mainly come from individual scenes, where this fantastic cast of actors get to play around with some really well written lines of dialogue. Even when the film is falling short thematically, it consistently delivers memorable lines of dialogue, all of it delivered with great aplomb by the film's varied set of talents.
Bryan Cranston relishes imitating the distinctive speech patterns of Trumbo, and he makes a lot out of the character's complexities. It is to the film's credit that it depicts Trumbo as being a difficult person, and Cranston never misses a chance to show off the character's weaknesses. But Cranston is just one part of this incredible cast. More interesting, even, is Helen Mirren, who arrives in every scene with a barely concealed threat. Louis CK and Michael Stuhlbarg get the best arguments in the movie, and they feel like fully formed characters. In small parts, John Goodman and Alan Tudyk offer memorable turns.
'Trumbo' oversimplifies, but it is a little difficult to disregard its strengths. Perhaps the movie is simply channeling the spirit of old Hollywood, keeping things light and simple even as it touches on grave, complex matters. Perhaps it is a fitting tribute to Dalton Trumbo, who ended up making films that appealed to a strong sense of right and wrong. This film feels clunky at times, the scenes failing to reflect the more compelling history of these real people. But it manages to provide an entertaining version of the truth, and maybe that counts for something.
My Rating:
