‘Trumbo’ Exposes Hollywood Blacklist Feb. 16
The successful career of 1940s screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston) comes to a crushing end when he and other Hollywood figures are blacklisted for their political beliefs when the House Un-American Activities Committee begins investigating “Communist infiltration” of Hollywood’s creative community. The film tells the story of his fight — and the fight of other members of the “Hollywood 10,” whose lives and livelihood were strangled by the Blacklist — against the U.S. government and studio bosses in a war over words and freedom, which entangled everyone in Hollywood from Hedda Hopper (Helen Mirren) and John Wayne to Kirk Douglas and Otto Preminger. A tour-de-force performance by Cranston — and an over-the-top supporting performance by John Goodman as an exploitation-film producer who supports Trumbo during the Blacklist. Cranston has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role. Vitals: Director: Jay Roach. Stars: Bryan Cranston, Louis C.K., Elle Fanning, Helen Mirren, Diane Lane, Alan Tudyk, John Goodman, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Dean O’Gorman, Michael Stuhlbarg. 2015, CC, MPAA rating: R, 124 min., Drama, Box office gross: $7.361 million, Universal. Extras: “Who is Trumbo?”, “Bryan Cranston Becomes Trumbo.”.
