By itself, the golden age of Trumbo's career would make for an inspired documentary. But, alas, history situates him in another story, a tragedy that nearly consumed him and many other members of Hollywood.
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07/24/08
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Trumbo (2008)
72 %
Reviews Counted: 29 Fresh: 21 Rotten:8 Average Rating: 6.4/10
Consensus:
Trumbo celebrates the life and work of blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo with measures of humor and sadness.
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Synopsis: This documentary focuses on the Oscar-winning mind behind ROMAN HOLIDAY and THE BRAVE ONE. TRUMBO centers on Dalton Trumbo, a screenwriter and member of the Hollywood 10 who vaulted from the A-list to the blacklist and back again. This film features prominent actors Joan Allen, Michael... [More]
Genre: Education/General Interest
Starring: Joan Allen, Brian Dennehy, Michael Douglas, Paul Giamatti, Nathan Lane
Director: Peter Askin
Producer: Will Battersby, Tory Tunnell, Alan Klingenstein, David Viola
Composer: Robert Miller
Producer: Will Battersby, Tory Tunnell, Alan Klingenstein, David Viola
Composer: Robert Miller
Reviews
Trumbo is well worth seeing for what it tells us about the age in which this irrepressible individualist lived, loved, suffered and finally triumphed.
07/09/08
The substance of those letters, along with documentary footage and a touching appearance by Kirk Douglas, throws a baleful light on a bleak chapter of American history.
07/01/08
Trumbo's vivid archival footage and interviews share less-than-equal time, though, with an all-star cast ... taking turns reading from the writer's letters and speeches.
06/27/08
This hard-nosed look at the grim realities of the blacklist is as timely as ever.
06/27/08
What kind of international revolutionary whines about his family being made unwelcome among the tykes of the bourgeoisie?
06/27/08
Using Trumbo's letters, statements, speeches and scripts, director Peter Askin creates a rich portrait of a cantankerous, principled man of words.
06/27/08
Top Critic
It's Trumbo's words -- unfiltered and often unhinged -- that make this doc worth seeing.
06/27/08
Family home movies and photos and archival clips round out the film, which holds its hero-worshiping to fairly tolerable levels.
06/27/08
The film only comes alive with archival footage of the HUAC hearings and interviews with Trumbo himself. When the letter-readers come on, it slows to a snails-pace.
06/27/08
More successful at evoking sympathy for Dalton Trumbo than offering a detailed study of the Red Scare vis-à-vis the screenwriters known as the “Hollywood Ten,” it nevertheless provides a fascinating introduction to the always-relevant topic.
06/27/08
Peter Askin’s stirring documentary Trumbo gives you reasons to cheer but also to weep.
06/27/08
Top Critic
Trumbo emerges as a son's bittersweet valentine to his old man, and a tribute to the senior Trumbo's resilience, wit, and outrage in the face of a national disgrace.
06/26/08
unimaginative ... rendering a film that should have been impassioned and full of life and humor into something static and dull.
06/26/08
Reflects the fun of crafting zesty prose and the pain of not being able to attach your real name to it.
06/26/08
What could have been a human- and Hollywood-interest film turns out to be a not very successful experiment.
06/26/08
Balancing the political and the personal is a smart idea, though the resulting togglethon ends up being the uneasiest of marriages.
06/26/08
An overdue vindication of a true patriot and a timely reminder to continue challenging authority in the face of the Patriot Act.
06/25/08
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