Mediocre Movie Club Movie Reviews

Broadcast News

6/2/2017

B+
3.20

A news producer, field reporter, and anchorman wrestle with personal and professional changes.

Directed by James L. Brooks
Starring Holly Hunter, Albert Brooks, and William Hurt
Initial Review by Sean Riley

Broadcast News is a tremendous example of what makes movies and tv shows about the news such an appealing medium for Hollywood. Network, The Paper, Anchorman, NewsRadio, Newsroom, etc. Much of the appeal to me seems that the principal characters (anchors) in real life walk that perfect fine line between normal person and celebrity that Americans love so much. I remember seeing a local Evansville weather guy singing smooth Karaoke at the Fox and Hound in the early 2000s and the college girls were swooning. If he wasn't on tv they'd have been clowning the old bald guy who couldn't sing.

Broadcast News reflects the "these are real people with real insecurities" angle more than the celebrity angle and crushes it. Holly Hunter, Albert Brooks and William Hurt shine in their roles. For Brooks, when you add this movie to Taxi Driver he might be the all-time best friendzoned actor. William Hurt's biggest flaw is that he isn't handsome enough by modern standards to play the guy getting by with only his sexiness and charisma. Otherwise he nails it. Personally I partly wondered if he wasn't smarter than he let on and played that role enough in order to use the strengths of those around him to propel him farther faster. Holly Hunter was brilliant while playing the perfect producer and only slightly less so playing the bumbling personal life crying out loud in moments by myself lady.

Best Writer/Director nom for the mediocrities from me for James L Brooks and Best everything else noms for the movie and cast.

The only thing that kept it from A+ (this is an A) for me was I think they went too far in the polar opposites of Hunter and Brooks being perfect at what they do and completely worthless outside that zone. Brooks' sweating scene looked like it was from Airplane! and Hunter packing an entire box of condoms is a total rookie move.

6 Comments

Jon

6/3/2017 05:57:38 pm

A prescient glimpse into the future, a charming romance, and an ostensibly accurate depiction of a professional world, Broadcast News deserves its enduring reputation. James L. Brooks' film finds the strengths and weaknesses of its three main characters, making them fully rounded people capable of both annoying and captivating the viewer. Their interplay is predictable in the best possible sense, such that the end result is fully earned and clearly motivated by the characters' psyches and virtues, or lack thereof. Broadcast News then surrounds its principals in a changing work environment that continues to morph and contort itself almost 30 years after the film's release. A worthy successor to Network, though lacking in that film's grandeur, Brooks' film mixes genres in such a way that multiple films exist in this one, all of them strong.

Broadcast News opens at pivotal moments in its three protagonists' young lives. Tom Grunick is frustrated with his poor schoolwork, a good-looking kid without the smarts to match. Aaron Altman is a 15-year-old valedictorian, thanking his bullies for giving him the kind of hard-won perspective and character that will surely pay dividends later in life. Jane Craig is obsessively answering her pen pal letters and berating her father when the man asks her if perhaps she's too focused on this one thing. Flash forward a couple dozen years, and Craig (Holly Hunter) is a high-powered news producer at a national station, working closely with field reporter Altman (Albert Brooks). Grunick (William Hurt) is showing up for his first day as the new anchor, though he admits that he doesn't know very much about the job. Initially resentful of Grunick's perceived skating by on his appearance, Craig and Altman warm to Grunick's dogged charm and seeming willingness to learn. He and Craig strike up a tentative relationship, with Altman in the frustrated friend zone.

Each character is given their moment to shine, individually and in concert. Grunick is initially wowed by Craig during a whirlwind assembly of a news clip, coming in seconds before air. She knows exactly what she's doing at all times on the job, something both shown to the viewer in the way she runs her team and told to them by her coworkers and bosses declaring her expertise. Craig is a person who knows a lot about a lot, giving cab drivers specific instructions and well-versed in every conceivable topic. She's also prone to crying jags when alone, and the know-it-all side of her personality smothers her message even when right, which she often is. Grunick is accurate in his estimation of his intelligence, but his aw-shucks humility covers up for this flaw. Honest about the lucky rolls his career has taken, he wants to take this latest opportunity to really hone his craft, and with Craig guiding him, he's thrilled by the prospect. He shares his high hopes with his father the same way a child might present an A on a test, making him endearingly genuine in small moments like that. Altman is the third wheel in the (restrained) love triangle, and third wheel in the film, getting the least to do, but still a full character. He shares Craig's competence but has none of Grunick's humility. He resents Grunick's rise, especially given his anchorman ambitions, but can still put his beefs aside for the sake of the news, and the two eventually become grudging allies, if not friends.

6/3/2017 05:58:46 pm

Hunter, Hurt, and Brooks fill their characters with dense layers, bringing a great deal of relatability to each. In one of the aforementioned crying jags, Brooks's camera stays on Hunter as she progresses form the end of a cheery phone call to a full-on breakdown, all taking place on Hunter's face. She is always believable, infusing her managerial power and no-nonsense attitude with the gravitas required to be as abrasive as she often is, and the vulnerability to keep the viewer on her side. Most characters she interacts with are cowed by her presence, and deservedly so. Hurt also must have done his homework and spent time practicing on filling the anchor chair, because he is equally believable as a perfectly coifed and dressed newsman, always staring into the camera with very little eye movement and clear, calming tone of voice. When Grunick is discussing his shame off-camera, Hurt infuses each line with a sadness that suggests this is the first time he's really been able to say something he's known for some time. Brooks is acerbically charming in his role, though how could he not be? A sarcastic, aware-of-his-brilliance professional is something he can do very well, and he executes predictably.

Broadcast News takes off when news is being produced. An early scene dedicated to showing Craig's talent is organized chaos, with a panicking Joan Cusack and a shouting Hunter getting everything where it needs to be. Once Grunick gets in the anchor chair, the synergy between himself, Craig, and Altman is a thrilling sight to behold, like getting a real peek behind the action and seeing all the gears turning in synch. Around the studio, the characters are immersed in the state of TV journalism and aren't shy about discussing it. Grunick seems to serve as a dark harbinger, since the few stations he worked at before this current job have all shut down shortly after he left. The thesis of the film, of appearance supplanting substance, is communicated through Grunick's rise and spoken forcefully by Altman. Grunick, though charming and relatable, is little more than a puppet capable of calmly communicating the words on the teleprompter and the instructions coming through his earpiece, hardly anyone's idea of the second coming of Kronkite. However, cutbacks are happening at the station, and if this is what the consumer wants in times of belt-tightening, that's what the consumer's going to get, despite the role the news has in giving consumers what they need first. It's a trend that has only continued, as while I was recently watching the NBC nightly news, time was given to the latest animal videos trending on Twitter, hardly anyone's idea of necessary information.

Discounting any of his work with the Simpsons, this was my first encounter with Brooks as a screenwriter, and it was a very good experience. There's plenty of Lisa Simpson in Jane Craig, both seminal speaking-truth-to-power characters. Broadcast News doesn't have wasted scenes and is dense with interesting dialogue and dynamics, while also clearly seeing its subjects and their careers and where those careers are going. As competently made as one of Craig's segments, there are few, if any seams. The film didn't quite have the extra oomph to crack into A territory, but on an objective scale, it rates very highly. The subjective scale is slightly lacking, but I can clearly see how this film has come to be so highly remembered. B+

Bryan

6/5/2017 12:10:06 am

"Did you finally finish it? That only took like 4 sittings." - Chelsea

Broadcast News was good. I appreciated the honest, sometimes brutal dialogue between characters. Occasionally I was lost, but the conversations, character arcs, and morality kept me entertained. The 7 years later at the end was garbage.

I'll go with B.

Cooker

6/20/2017 11:46:50 am

I too recall a weatherman Ron Rhodes karaoke moment. I forget which bar, but I was up singing Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) by the Offspring and he was up there dancing with a bunch of girls, none of them even looked my direction. I nailed the song and Ron gave me a high-five. What evs.

6/20/2017 11:48:03 am

Broadcast News could have easily been a “Meh” love triangle movie, but it had some elements which saved it and actually made it pretty good.

1. The brief character introductions in the beginning of the three leads when they’re younger were all well done and helped prepare for the characters we’d be following.

2. Albert Brooks as Aaron. Great character. Period.

3. All the scenes involving the news station and how everyone operated as a team were really intriguing. I’ve never really thought about how all the parts work together, despite the fact that my brother worked in the news biz for a number of years.

I agree with Bryan in that I didn’t like how the “7 years later” portion at the end was presented. But I did agree with the choice to have everyone live their own life and that Jane didn’t end up with one of them.

And how about the two guys pitching the news theme song? Terrific.

Good movie. Going B+

Blair

6/28/2017 10:44:32 pm

Meh. I lost interest and Geoff needed to be picked up from day care. It reminded me of The Newsroom, though I lost interest in that, too. C+

Broadcast News

B+
3.20

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Broadcast News

B+​3.20

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B+
3.20