As the story of a fierce, beleaguered individualist, 'Trumbo' is stirring and informative, though perhaps not as thorough as it could be.
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09/28/08
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Trumbo (2008)
78 %
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Reviews Counted: 40
Fresh: 31
Rotten:9
Average Rating: 6.6/10
Consensus: Trumbo celebrates the life and work of blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo with measures of humor and sadness.
Theatrical Release: Jun 27, 2008 Limited
Box Office: $28,125
Synopsis: This documentary focuses on the Oscar-winning mind behind ROMAN HOLIDAY and THE BRAVE ONE. TRUMBO centers on Dalton Trumbo, a screenwriter and member of the Hollywood 10 who vaulted from the A-list to the blacklist and back again. This... [More]
Starring: Joan Allen, Brian Dennehy, Michael Douglas, Paul Giamatti
Director: Peter Askin
Reviews for Trumbo
Dalton Trumbo showed that it was possible, even within the Hollywood system, to deal seriously with issues like freedom and personal responsibility.
09/19/08
Although it glosses over a few relevant details, Trumbo also functions as a passionate defense of truth from a writer who embodied all of the virtues that America claims to value.
09/12/08
Of all the many narrative films and documentaries that have been made about the Hollywood blacklist, none has more intimately captured what it must have been like to live through that sordid time.
09/11/08
This biography is celebratory to a fault. There is scant context about the history and political climate that led to the blacklist.
08/22/08
Top Critic Trumbo was initiated by two of Trumbo's children, but their attempt to personalize the film isn't quite personal enough.
08/22/08
... a beautifully directed and passionate homage to the dignity of one man against the indignity of the times.
08/19/08
A celebration of a large-hearted contrarian, and if it's over-worshipful, the film gets you in an indulgent frame of mind.
08/15/08
Top Critic Askin's dramatic camera angles are somewhat awkward, but the superb performances and the words eventually win out.
08/14/08
Step back to the good old days when anybody could be brought before Congress and interrogated about their beliefs, and meet one of the most famous of those who refused to answer.
07/27/08
By itself, the golden age of Trumbo's career would make for an inspired documentary. But, alas, history situates him in another story, a tragedy that nearly consumed him and many other members of Hollywood.
07/24/08
Top Critic Trumbo is well worth seeing for what it tells us about the age in which this irrepressible individualist lived, loved, suffered and finally triumphed.
07/09/08
Top Critic The substance of those letters, along with documentary footage and a touching appearance by Kirk Douglas, throws a baleful light on a bleak chapter of American history.
07/01/08
Top Critic Trumbo's vivid archival footage and interviews share less-than-equal time, though, with an all-star cast ... taking turns reading from the writer's letters and speeches.
06/27/08
This hard-nosed look at the grim realities of the blacklist is as timely as ever.
06/27/08
What kind of international revolutionary whines about his family being made unwelcome among the tykes of the bourgeoisie?
06/27/08
Top Critic Using Trumbo's letters, statements, speeches and scripts, director Peter Askin creates a rich portrait of a cantankerous, principled man of words.
06/27/08
Top Critic
Top Critic It's Trumbo's words -- unfiltered and often unhinged -- that make this doc worth seeing.
06/27/08
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June 25, 2008:
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May 25, 2008:
Trailer & Poster review
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