Trumbo

Critics Consensus

Trumbo serves as an honorable and well-acted tribute to a brilliant writer's principled stand, even if it doesn't quite achieve the greatness of its subject's own classic screenplays.

74%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 202

79%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 22,755
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Movie Info

In 1947, Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston) was Hollywood's top screenwriter until he and other artists were jailed and blacklisted for their political beliefs. TRUMBO (directed by Jay Roach) recounts how Dalton used words and wit to win two Academy Awards and expose the absurdity and injustice of the blacklist, which entangled everyone from gossip columnist Hedda Hopper (Helen Mirren) to John Wayne, Kirk Douglas and Otto Preminger.
  • Rating:
    R (for language including some sexual references)
  • Genre:
    Drama
  • Directed By:
    Jay Roach
  • Written By:
    John McNamara
  • In Theaters:
     limited
  • On Disc/Streaming:
  • Runtime:
  • Studio:
    Bleecker Street Media

Cast

Bryan Cranston
as Dalton Trumbo
Alan Tudyk
as Ian McLellan Hunter
Diane Lane
as Cleo Trumbo
Elle Fanning
as Nikola Trumbo
Helen Mirren
as Hedda Hopper
John Goodman
as Frank King
Louis C.K.
as Arlen Hird
Michael Stuhlbarg
as Edward G. Robinson
Richard Portnow
as Louis B. Mayer
John Getz
as Sam Wood
Mark Harelik
as Ed Muhl
Christian Berkel
as Otto Preminger
Madison Wolfe
as Young Nikola Trumbo
Dan Bakkedahl
as Roy Brewer
David James Elliott
as John Wayne
Roger Bart
as Buddy Ross
Stephen Root
as Hymie King
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
as Virgil Brooks
Dean O'Gorman
as Kirk Douglas
Dave Maldonado
as Rocco
Laura Flannery
as Party Goer
Tobias McDowell Nichols
as Chris Trumbo Age (6-10)
James DuMont
as J. Parnell Thomas
Joseph S. Martino
as Rally Participant
Jason Bayle
as Young Father
Johnny Sneed
as Robert Stripling
Rio Hackford
as Reporter
Dane Rhodes
as Reporter
Peter Mackenzie
as Robert Kenny
John Neisler
as Robert Stripling
Sean Bridgers
as Jeff Krandall
PJ Marshall
as Prison Guard
Meghan Wolfe
as Mitzi Trumbo
Mitchell Zakocs
as Chris Trumbo
John E. Moore
as Prison Guard
Jason Kirkpatrick
as Mover
Wayne Pére
as Next Door Neighbor
A.J. Allegra
as Messenger
Mattie Liptak
as Chris Trumbo (Age 13-17)
Becca Nicole Preston
as Mitzi Trumbo (Age 9-12)
Garrett Hines
as Andrew Hird
Christian LeBlanc
as Niki's Friend
Ron Fassler
as Journalist
Jim Gleason
as TV Interviewer
Rick Kelly
as President John F. Kennedy
Billy Slaughter
as DC Reporter
Griff Furst
as Master of Ceremonies
John Mark Skinner
as Chris Trumbo (Age 29)
Pete Anthony
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News & Interviews for Trumbo

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Bryan Cranston’s Best Roles
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Critic Reviews for Trumbo

All Critics (202) | Top Critics (42) | Fresh (149) | Rotten (53)

  • The film is a labour of love for Bryan Cranston, as Trumbo. As Hollywood's greatest screenwriter, embattled but not beaten, he embodies the old Hemingway definition of courage: "grace under pressure".

    February 18, 2016 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…

    Paul Byrnes

    Sydney Morning Herald
    Top Critic

  • One day, perhaps, an HBO mini-series will tackle this cultural face-off and blow our minds. In the meantime, check out Trumbo.

    February 7, 2016 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

    Charlotte O'Sullivan

    London Evening Standard
    Top Critic

  • Fast, funny, if a little flimsy.

    February 5, 2016 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

    Emma Simmonds

    Little White Lies
    Top Critic

  • Cranston is good, very good, here, but let down by a meandering drama that lacks cojones.

    February 4, 2016 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

    Kate Muir

    Times (UK)
    Top Critic

  • Trumbo is no masterpiece, but the story of a writer imprisoned in America for his political beliefs needed to be told.

    February 4, 2016 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

    Peter Bradshaw

    Guardian
    Top Critic

  • We are left with the painful irony that a film about a screenwriter so good that Kirk Douglas and Otto Preminger couldn't live without him suffers from a dull and slow-moving script.

    November 27, 2015 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…

    Kate Taylor

    Globe and Mail
    Top Critic
View All Critic Reviews (202)

Audience Reviews for Trumbo

  • Dec 03, 2017
    Very entertaining look at the Hollywood era of blacklisted communist artists and how one of the biggest writers of the time dealt with it. There are some slow parts, but especially the (perfectly cast) stars of the time showing up make for some really fun scenes. Cranston's charisma easily makes for a relate-able protagonist, who is easily forgiven for his quirks, while his struggle against oppression makes for a very engaging story. The ending is particularly satisfying.
    Jens S Super Reviewer
  • May 25, 2016
    Bryan Cranston, hot from his ingenious TV career, finds his perfect transition to film stardom with this Oscar-nominated portrayal of Hollywood legend and two-time Oscar-winning screenwriter, Dalton Trumbo. This film is an interesting scope at one of the movie industry's darkest periods. A charming, thoughtful and mainly, a finely acted piece of work.
    Ace T Super Reviewer
  • May 22, 2016
    At times a heartfelt biopic and at other times a breezy and light telling of events, Trumbo is a mixed film. Taking place during Hollywood's reviled "black list" period, during which McCarthyism was king. Numerous Hollywood writers, actor, and directors become embroiled when their supposed affiliations to Communism-either real or imagined-became known. By all accounts Dalton Trumbo had a flamboyant and eccentric personality, and Bryan Cranston did an excellent job showing great range in his performance. The rest of the cast proves capable and the film is filled with some humorous moments as well as truly human ones. It's never as impacting or dramatic as it wants to be, however, and I was troubled with the film's overall treatment of the subject. Instead of a nuanced portray, the film is a heavily slanted apologist film which offers no context, and instead only superficially acknowledges the very real communist infiltration of Hollywood. McCarthy attacks aside, the extreme leftist ideologues and infiltration were far from imagined, and just as troubling as fascist sympathies the film imagines. A mixed bag.
    Jeffrey M Super Reviewer
  • Mar 21, 2016
    Cranston is as entertaining as ever but I think the plot's a little too simplistic, especially when it deals with the creation of a blacklist.
    Alec B Super Reviewer
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