Trumbo review

Trumbo review

A real Hollywood true story, Trumbo has arrived in Kiwi cinemas just in time for the holidays.

Trumbo stars Breaking Bad actor Bryan Cranston in the lead role, ably assisted by Diane Lane and Kiwi Dean O'Gorman.

What a great idea for a movie – Dalton Trumbo, an Oscar-winning screenwriter himself, couldn't have penned a fictional version as compelling as his own true life story.

The late '40s, the early stages of the Cold War, the climate of fear, paranoia and persecution, which would come to be known as the McCarthy Era, was in its infancy but was already making its presence felt in Hollywood.

Trumbo (Cranston) was already a notable screenwriter. He was also a registered and vocal supporter of the unions and a paid member of the Communist Party. Along with several of his creative colleagues, he was blacklisted.

He continued to write, under pseudonyms, and to award-winning effect, fighting the good fight the only way he knew how, with words.

Trumbo had many champions through his story – his wife, Cleo, and his children, and when that fight really got dirty, Kirk Douglas entered stage left, AKA our very own O'Gorman.

There are so many things to love about Trumbo. This is a classy film, oozing with old-school movie-making and dripping with old-school charm.

Cranston, Lane, John Goodman, Louis CK and a script that snaps and crackles its way along, all come together for a few hours of enormously entertaining and enlightening cinema – loved it.

Four-and-a-half stars.

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     Trumbo:: Director: Jay Roach :: Starring: Bryan Cranston, Elle Fanning, Helen Mirren, Alan Tudyk, Diane Lane, Louis C.K., John Goodman, Stephen Root, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Michael Stuhlbarg, Dean O'Gorman:: Rating: M - Offensive language, adult themes:: Running Time: 124 minutes:: Release Date: In cinemas now