It's a shame that Bryan Cranston was such a little known actor until Breaking Bad because he could've been giving us gold for years before. I knew him as Hal on Malcolm in the Middle and was always a Cranston fan, but was never going to take the guy seriously. Then, obviously, after Breaking Bad I wanted to see more and more of Cranston as a leading man. However, since the show's end he has been in two films. That's it. Two. The first was Godzilla where he was highly publicized in the trailers and killed off quickly within the first fifteen minutes of a terrible film. The second is Trumbo. Cranston turns in a brilliant performance showcasing his talent as an actor and providing a strong case that this man needs to headline more and more films. Trumbo as a film is a small time biopic that deals with a very embarrassing time in our country's history, but deals with it in a unique way.
Dalton Trumbo (Cranston) is a masterful screenwriter in 1947, about to be the highest paid in the entire world. However, he is also an admitted member of the Communist political party. During this time, the Soviet Union and the U.S. were in the midst of high tensions seeking to find spies in each other's countries for spilling government secrets. Propoganda films coupled with American ignorance led common folk to believe that anyone affiliated with the Communist party was, in fact, seeking to destroy the United States. Therefore, the 'out' members of Dalton's Communist group, ten screenwriters, were blacklisted and sent to prison simply for having different political beliefs. While they seek to free themselves through the first amendment, all of them lose their jobs, unable to put their names on a film. Each is slandered by highly regarded journalist Hedda Hopper (Helen Mirren) making sure none of them will ever work again. In order to keep writing and fling a high-flying middle finger at the industry, Trumbo and his troupe (Louis CK, Alan Tudyk, and co.) begin writing and re-writing scripts for a sleazy production company led by Frank King (John Goodman). However, they all write the scripts under fake names. This works well until one of the films, Roman Holiday, written by Dalton wins the Academy Award for Best Screenplay and no one is able to accept the award.
The film ping pongs back and forth between Dalton's fight against his freedom of political party choice and his need to keep writing. It presents a fair picture of a flawed man whose message can, at times, be a bit hypocritical. Even one of his closest writing friends brings up the fact that he preaches equal distribution of wealth, but strives to live the rich guy life. Dalton wants to be a successful writer as well as a martyr. This leads to his home life becoming severely stressful and a tarnished relationship between him and his oldest daughter (Elle Fanning).
Trumbo is a very good film that is made even better by the stellar performances. Clearly Cranston gives his all to the role and gets lost in it. What's great is that he's someone new. There's no Walter White. There's no Hal. He IS Trumbo. He's Trumbo even down to the manner in which he speaks, all old-timey and black-and-whitey. But the dream cast surrounding him are all wonderful as well. Louis CK plays the tired, but resilient writing friend of Trumbo. He's able to be the voice of reason as well as the comic relief. John Goodman is the quirky sleazeball King who has no interest in a good script, just a finished one. Helen Mirren is so snake-like that you genuinely learn to dislike her presence in a scene, even though we've grown to love her over the years.
Jay Roach in a directorial role very different from past films (Austin Powers, Meet the Parents) is able to subvert comedy in favor of character. What a character brings to the scene can either be funny, or sad, or heartwarming, or heart wrenching. The story itself is not a happy one, highlighting what ended up being yet another black mark of American history happening almost at the same parallel time as segregation in schools. However, this isn't the story of Americans affected by the blacklist. This is the story of the Hollywood 10, and more specifically, Dalton Trumbo who refused to be a doormat to an ignorant country persecuting those for their own God-given beliefs. It's a very good movie highlighted by the fact that Bryan Cranston, once again, shows he can play with others, but can still stand out as a one-man band.
B
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