Movie Review

Trumbo (2008)

Reviewed by Owen Gleiberman | Jul 11, 2008

Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman is a film critic for EW

Share
Comments
Add your comment

EW's GRADE

B+

Details Limited Release: Jun 27, 2008; Rated: PG-13; Length: 96 Minutes; Genres: Documentary, Drama; With: Joan Allen and Michael Douglas

$TRUMBO Documentary looks at the \'40s screenwriter blacklisted after refusing to testify at the HUAC hearings and his era | Trumbo, Dalton Trumbo$

Image credit: Mitzi Trumbo

TRUMBO Documentary looks at the '40s screenwriter blacklisted after refusing to testify at the HUAC hearings and his era

More reviews about this film Powered by MRQE.com

The Hollywood blacklist is now so shrouded in mythology that it's bracing to rediscover its fear and loathing through the lens of one artist's experience. In 1947, Dalton Trumbo was the most sought-after screenwriter in Hollywood when he was dragged before HUAC and, along with the rest of the Hollywood Ten, cited for contempt of Congress when he refused to testify. (He did offer the committee a stern lecture.) Trumbo was sent to jail and blacklisted, yet the man captured by Peter Askin's penetrating documentary was such a hard-shelled and imperiously eloquent SOB that he never saw himself as a victim. That's Trumbo's message — that the true victim was America. B+

Originally posted Jul 11, 2008 Published in issue #1002 Jul 18, 2008 Order article reprints

Share
Comments
Add your comment

Add your comment

The rules: Keep it clean, and stay on the subject or we might delete your comment. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us. An asterisk * indicates a required field.