Broadcast News (1987)

Nominee

Here is a movie that is not quite Network (1976) and not quite an awful romanitc comedy. So what is it? Well it is solid, it tries to hard to be somethings but it succeeds effortlessly at others.

In the characters, the actors and the brief endearing moments of wit and personal encounters we are given a movie that seems so at ease with its content. William Hurt, Holly Hunter, and Albert Brooks all give clean perfomances of the real people behind the news. We have the pretty faced not to bright anchor, Tom,  the bright and obsessive producer, Jane, and her best friend Aaron, who cannot be an anchor but knows how to write the news. The three find each other in the double context of work and personal life, and in these two settings of interaction we find some real and funny moments. When watching these characters interact you almost forget you're watching a movie.

However where I do find some fault is its attempt to show the inner working of the news station. It tries to be ground breaking in a way its just not. People getting fires, the intergrity of work vs. the need for viewership. It's already been done and its been done better. Not that I didn't enjoy some of the sequences, watching a lot of the techinical process of a newsroom was fun, but the themes the movie was pushing just wasn't notable.

Also this is no fault of the movie itself but rather the 80's. I don't know what they were doing back then but their soundtracks and shooting styles usually fall flat for me.

Lastly, Jack Nicholson is in this movie in a very small role which I though was strange. Also Disney/Pixar fans! A fun game: close your eyes and listen...you will hear Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl, Elastagirl, and Marlin. This was very distracting for me...in a good way!

Overall: This is not the great ethical commentary that it thinks it is, but what it is instead is a solid film about love and friendship in a chaotic context. If I did stars I would give it a 3.5/5...perhaps not earth shattering but a good watch.