During the start of the Cold War, numerous American film artists are placed in the cross hairs by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Among them is screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, because he was a member of the Communist Party of the USA. When he refuses to answer the questions of the Committee, Trumbo is eventually jailed for contempt of court, but his wife, Cleo, and their three kids, including Nikola, wait for his release. Back in freedom, Trumbo is blacklisted and thus cannot find any job from the film studios. He decides to pen scripts under a pseudonym or to give them to another screenwriter who will take credit for them. When Trumbo's movies "Roman Holiday" and "The Brave One" win Oscars, actor Kirk Douglas asks him to pen "Spartacus" and Otto Preminger to write "Exodus". In both movies, Trumbo's name is finally listen in the credits.
This biography of screenwriter Dalton Trumbo serves as an interesting essay on the "democratic deficit" in the US during the early stages of the Cold War, an unpleasant reminder that even in democratic countries built on the rule of law such a rule of law can be violated towards dissidents. However, while this injustice in the form of the blacklist is legitimate, the movie is sometimes presented in black and white solutions, presenting Trumbo almost always in a positive light, while ignoring some of his own questionable standpoints (as a footnote, even Nikita Khrushchev denounced and distanced himself from Stalinism). "Trumbo" owes a majority of its virtues to the excellent performances by Bryan Cranston who delivers a worthy and emotional portrait with a lot of pathos, serving as a symbol for people who stand up to their believes even under persecution: one of the greatest moments is when John Wayne, a staunch anti-Communist, has a fierce argument with Trumbo, but the latter has a witty response ("If you're gonna talk about World War II as if you personally won it, let's be clear where you were stationed: on a film set, shooting blanks, wearing makeup. And if you're going to hit me, I'd like to take off my glasses"). John Goodman also gives a very fine supporting role as Trumbo's loyal supporter, Frank King, a B-movie producer who is the only one willing to openly hire Trumbo during his "embargo", which eventually leads to the dissolution of the blacklisting. While more preoccupied with its message and social issues, "Trumbo" is still an interesting piece of "unknown history".
Grade:++
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