Trumbo is hurt by an unwillingness to actually explore Trumbo's own politics and delve into his actual beliefs about communism, Stalin or Marxist ideology.
Comment
10/18/08
Trumbo (2008)
80
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:51
Fresh:41
Rotten:10
Average Rating:6.7/10
Consensus: Trumbo celebrates the life and work of blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo with measures of humor and sadness.
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Genre: Education/General Interest
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... [More]
Starring: Joan Allen, Brian Dennehy, Michael Douglas, Paul Giamatti
Director: Peter Askin
Reviews for Trumbo
Askin's dramatic camera angles are somewhat awkward, but the superb performances and the words eventually win out.
08/14/08
The film is an enlightening recap of '50s Red Scare politics, and a parade of actors giving meaningful, earnest readings of Trumbo's speeches and letters.
10/18/08
Of all the many narrative films and documentaries that have been made about the Hollywood blacklist, none has more intimately captured what it must have been like to live through that sordid time.
09/11/08
...the film's inability to put a new spin on well-covered material... means the definitive work about this fascinating figure is yet to come.
06/23/08
... a beautifully directed and passionate homage to the dignity of one man against the indignity of the times.
08/19/08
Dalton Trumbo showed that it was possible, even within the Hollywood system, to deal seriously with issues like freedom and personal responsibility.
09/19/08
unimaginative ... rendering a film that should have been impassioned and full of life and humor into something static and dull.
06/26/08
A celebration of a large-hearted contrarian, and if it's over-worshipful, the film gets you in an indulgent frame of mind.
08/15/08
This biography is celebratory to a fault. There is scant context about the history and political climate that led to the blacklist.
08/22/08
A fine counterpart to Good Night, and Good Luck and a unique amalgam of talking heads and theatrics, the story of Dalton Trumbo and how he and his family dealt with being blacklisted is an amazing one.
06/25/08
As the story of a fierce, beleaguered individualist, 'Trumbo' is stirring and informative, though perhaps not as thorough as it could be.
09/28/08
Balancing the political and the personal is a smart idea, though the resulting togglethon ends up being the uneasiest of marriages.
06/26/08
This hard-nosed look at the grim realities of the blacklist is as timely as ever.
06/27/08
Like the great artist he is Trumbo's work speaks as loudly today as it did 50 years ago. Perhaps we should all listen.
09/13/09
Does a fine job of showing the emotional and financial toll the decadelong blacklist (plus a year's imprisonment for contempt of Congress) took on Trumbo and his family as he tried to scrape by writing anonymously.
01/09/09
Trumbo was initiated by two of Trumbo's children, but their attempt to personalize the film isn't quite personal enough.
08/22/08
Peter Askin’s stirring documentary Trumbo gives you reasons to cheer but also to weep.
06/27/08
Top CriticEpistolary dramas are often big bores, but this film is much better than it has the right to be given the variety of actors playing Trumbo.
06/12/08
It is oddly pleasant to know that such a man once existed.
07/21/08
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