On B List of Movie Reviews
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Broadcast News (1987)
Rate:
9
Viewed:
7/15
7/15:
Broadcast News is similar to Network but goes in a different direction.
For William Hurt, it marks his third of three consecutive Oscar nominations with the others being
Kiss of the Spider Woman
and Children of a Lesser God from 1985 to 1987. That's
why the 80's was the best decade of his acting career, and he's so good in this.
Also, picking up Oscar nominations, Holly Hunter (the role was written for Debra Winger, but she dropped out due to her
pregnancy) and Albert Brooks are perfect complements to William Hurt, and these three make a great trio, leaving me
impressed with their chemistry.
Holly Hunter's character, Jane, reminds me of Faye Dunaway's Diana Christensen in Network. She's fun and interesting
yet is serious and passionate about her work. Tom Grunick, to advance his career, puts on a façade around Jane, and the
interview when he shed crocodile tears is the most telling moment of who he really is. In other words, Tom is a good
salesman, and she bought it hook, line, and sinker. Jane is crushed (which is a smart move on Aaron's part when
he asked Tom about the number of camera crews used in the interview) because she believes in real news, not infotainment.
Infamous for having a hilarious epic meltdown as the fill-in weekend news anchor, Aaron is an interesting middleman who has
a mostly platonic relationship with Jane and tries to warn her about not getting romantically involved with Tom Grunick. Yet
she finds out the hard way. After the massive layoff of workers in the news department, their relationships start to change
for the worse, and they go in separate ways. When the trio meets again years later, Tom doesn't care about the past,
having viewed his former coworkers as stepping stones and thus moved on with his life as a successful news broadcaster.
By the way, Jack Nicholson, who's uncredited, has a nice small role as the news anchor which caught me by surprise. He would
have been good at it in real life because he looked credible and believable. There you go: news is about selling the
story.
All in all, it's the performances of William Hurt, Holly Hunter, and Albert Brooks that make Broadcast News
a fascinating picture.