Trumbo

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Written by Michael Darvell
 

The highs and lows of the life of screenwriter Dalton Trumbo are depicted with great conviction in Jay Roach’s absorbing biographical film. 

Bryan Cranston in his Oscar-nominated performance

This was a terrible period in Hollywood history and one that brought shame upon the US film industry. It couldn’t happen now because silencing a person’s views is tantamount to an invasion of their human rights. Jay Roach covers this shameful time with great imagination, detailing how driven Trumbo was in wanting to work as a writer, to the point where he had to ignore even his own family. He would sit in a bath, a glass of scotch at the ready, and type his scripts, literally shutting his family out of his life. Bryan Cranston brilliantly captures the spirit of a man who was obviously a mordant son of a gun to live with. Fine support comes from Diane Lane as his wife Cleo, Elle Fanning as daughter Nikola, Helen Mirren as the waspish Hollywood gossipmonger Hedda Hopper, and John Goodman as Frank King, owner of a low-rent studio who was prepared to employ Trumbo because he delivered the required goods on time. Various other Hollywood luminaries of the period are depicted in cameos, including Michael Stuhlbarg as Edward G. Robinson, David James Elliott as John Wayne, Dean O’Gorman as Kirk Douglas, Christian Berkel as Otto Preminger, John Getz as director Sam Wood and Richard Portnow as MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer.

MICHAEL DARVELL

Cast: Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane, Helen Mirren, Elle Fanning, John Goodman, Stephen Root, Michael Stuhlbarg, John Getz, Laura Flannery, David James Elliott, David Maldonado, Richard Portnow, Dean O’Gorman, Christian Berkel.

Dir Jay Roach, Pro Kevin Kelly Brown, Monica Levinson, Michael London, Nimitt Mankad, John McNamara, Shivani Rawat and Janice Williams, Screenplay John McNamara, based on the book Dalton Trumbo by Bruce Cook, Ph Jim Denault, Pro Des Mark Ricker, Ed Alan Baumgarten, Music Theodore Shapiro, Costumes Daniel Orlandi.

Groundswell Productions/ShivHans Pictures-Entertainment One.
124 mins. USA. 2015. Rel: 5 February 2016. Cert. 15.

 
Michael Darvell

Michael Darvell trained as a librarian at Watford and in Surrey before joining Ealing Libraries where he became Music Librarian for the borough. He edited Masthead, the magazine of the University of North London School of Librarianship, The Surrealist, the staff magazine of Surrey County Library, and contributed to the Assistant Librarian and London Librarian professional journals. A freelance film reviewer since 1970, he has written for Film, Films Illustrated, Film Review, Movie Maker and Radio Times, as well as editing Montage, the London film societies magazine, for ten years. A change of career saw him joining What’s On in London as Features Editor and he eventually stepped into the shoes of the late F. Maurice Speed (founding father of Film Review annual) as the magazine’s Editor. From 2007 to 2015, he was co-editor of the Film Review annual with Mansel Stimpson. As well as writing about films, Michael has reviewed theatre for The Stage newspaper, and has written about music theatre and cabaret for the Classical Source and Musical Theatre Review websites. He is also a former restaurant critic for the ViewLondon website. Michael has been a member of the London Film Critics’ Circle since 2005.

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