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Actors: William Hurt, Holly Hunter, Albert Brooks, Robert Prosky
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Broadcast News |
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Talented, savvy, but plain TV news reporter Aaron Altman (Brooks) carries a perpetual torch for his hard-driving and overworked boss, producer Jane Craig (Hunter). Aaron wants to be an anchor, but Tom Grunick (Hurt), a pretty boy who represents the trend toward entertainment news trend, arrives, and though Jane despises what he represents, she falls for Tom and assists his career (with Aaron sourly backing her up) anyway. The network is planning big changes, and no one knows who will survive, let alone get ahead, as this love triangle plays out. A solid 1987 comedy-drama, sort of a kinder, gentler "Network" written and directed by James L. Brooks ("Terms of Endearment"). Joan Cusack has a small comic role, and Jack Nicholson appears uncredited as a veteran anchor.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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In 1987, “Broadcast News” depicted serio-comedy at a TV news department about as credibly as “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” did weekly, more than a decade before. With James L. Brooks at the helm of each, that is not surprising.
The film shows how three talented professionals made it to a Washington, D.C. network news bureau and, what their goals are. For instance, Aaron (Brooks) is an award-winning correspondent who understands “real” news like why El Salvador fights the Sandanistas. But when he finally gets a chance to anchor a weekend newscast, he blows it.
Aaron is captivated by over-achieving producer Jane Craig (Hunter) who is more agreeable to remaining “just friends” while routinely orchestrating near-impossible on-air editing. When we see her seduce handsome but vapid anchor Tom Grunick (Hurt) while chiding, “you never went to college, you can't write, and you don't understand what you're reading,” we understand how her passion is real for each night's newscast.
This menage-a-trois is demonstrated when Tom has the opportunity to interview a famous general. While Jane feeds him nick-of-time questions from the booth, Aaron watches helplessly from home and calls to give her the hard news skinny which enables Tom to parrot even better questions. Frustrated, Aaron murmurs to his TV, “gee, it goes in here and comes out there.”
If Tom is the bureau's Ted Baxter-like foil, he is not without ambition. Good thing. Because, like the 1977 MTM finale, the network is about to undergo sweeping changes as rumors abound over who will remain and who won't.
--Angry Jim Magin, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Broadcast News |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1980's-1999
Getting ahead in:
- entertainment world
Job/Profession/Poverty Story?
Yes
Job:
- journalist
Training/apprentice story
Yes
Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Profession/status:
- producer/director
Age:
- 20's-30's
Eccentric:
Yes
- wild
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (woman) short/butch/lez
Body type
- (woman) skinny
Events of movie makes character more...
- sensitive
- happy
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- healthy but a geeky weakling
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
Hair style
- (man) short/standard curly
Body type
- (man) average build
How much in movie?
- 80%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Jewish
Main Adversary
Identity:
- an organization
Profession/status:
- business executive
Setting
United States
Yes
City?
Yes
City:
- Washington D.C.
Misc setting
- fancy mansion
- resort/hotel
- fort/military installation
- theater
- bar
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
Movie makes you feel...
- thoughtful
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references only
- kissing
Any profanity?
- Occasional swearing
If this is a kid's movie...
- Ages 10-15
If soundtrack VERY NOTICEABLE...
- Modern rock/pop
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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