Trumbo

"What we’re about to do is the one thing everyone says we can’t: we work."

In 1947, Dalton Trumbo (Cranston) is the highest paid writer in Hollywood.  He has a contract with MGM and his family lives a comfortable life.  He is also an outspoken Communist.  The House Un-American Activities Committee, led by gossip columnist Hedda Hopper (Mirren), is formed to investigate Communists in Hollywood.  Trumbo and 9 other screenwriters are subpoenaed to appear before the HUAC.  When they refuse to answer the questions, they are found in contempt of court and sentenced to jail.  They are also blacklisted in Hollywood.

When they are released from prison, the HUAC is still investigating and blacklisting screenwriters and actors.  Former allies, actor Edward G. Robinson (Stuhlbarg) and producer Buddy Ross (Bart), have publicly denounced them to protect their own careers.  Trumbo moves his family into a smaller home and tries to find a way around the blacklist.  He is hired by Frank King (Goodman) and Hymie King (Root) to ghostwrite B-movie scripts.  Can he ever get credit for his scripts?


Prior to this film I was not familiar with the name Dalton Trumbo, although I am familiar with his body of work.  He wrote Gun Crazy, Roman Holiday, The Brave One, Spartacus, among others.

The film focuses on Trumbo's life from the late 1940s to the 1960s and his role as part of the Hollywood Ten and subsequent blacklisting from Hollywood.  I don't know much about this time, so I don't know how much is historically accurate.  Some articles I have read dispute parts of the script, such as Edward G. Robinson naming names in front of the HUAC.  A few characters, including Louis C.K.'s Arlen Hird, are combinations of several people.

The filmmakers had the difficult task of portraying well-known actors.  This could easily turn into caricatures, but they made the right decisions with casting and portrayals.  David James Elliott does not physically resemble John Wayne, but captured his overall presence without going over the top (which is the reaction of most).  Michael Stuhlbarg captured some of the facial expressions of Edward G. Robinson, but otherwise did not resemble or sound like him.  Dean O'Gorman is great as Kirk Douglas.

Bryan Cranston carries the film well as Trumbo.  He makes you cheer for Trumbo and his plight.  It isn't a great script, which is sad since the film is about a great screenwriter.  It throws a lot of information and unnecessary characters at the audience and is uneven at times.  Trumbo is an interesting person and this film is enough to spark an interest in him.

In 2007, Peter Askin directed a documentary about Dalton Trumbo's life (also called Trumbo) which was written by his son Christopher Trumbo.  The documentary features interviews, footage from the hearings, and letters.

Cranston is nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor.

Trumbo (2015) 124 minutes
Rating: R for language including some sexual references
Director: Jay Roach
Starring: Bryan Cranston as Dalton Trumbo
Diane Lane as Cleo Fincher Trumbo
Helen Mirren as Hedda Hopper
Louis C.K. as Arlen Hird
Elle Fanning as Nikola Trumbo
John Goodman as Frank King
Michael Stuhlbarg as Edward G. Robinson
Alan Tudyk as Ian McLellan Hunter
Stephen Root as Hymie King
Roger Bart as Buddy Ross