Broadcast News (Criterion)
The Criterion Collection
Since the 1970s, the name James L. Brooks has been synonymous with intelligent television comedy - his shows are insightful about work and love and always plugged into the zeitgeist. He is also a master storyteller of the big screen, and none of his films is more quintessentially Brooks than Broadcast News. This caustic inside look at the Washington news media stars Holly Hunter, in her breakout role, as a feisty television producer torn between an ambitious yet dim anchorman (William Hurt) and her closest confidant, a cynical veteran reporter (Albert Brooks). Brooks's witty, gently prophetic entertainment is a captivating transmission from an era in which ideas on love and media were rapidly changing.
Member Reviews
Sensational - zarusoba
If "Network" is American cinema's rusty cleaver to the hair gel behemoth of television news, "Broadcast News" is subtler yet more precise scalpel. By couching its satire in a well-constructed and entertaining romantic comedy, the film is able to humanize its demons, and remind us that even the most corrupt system is corrupted by well-meaning people.
The film is brave enough to make its characters intractably principled and flawed, yet smart enough and compassionate enough to let them keep their dignity. It's uniformly well-acted, particularly Holly Hunter, who is darned near perfect as type A producer Jane. Bill Conti's score is perhaps a little too precious at times, but otherwise you're looking at a timeless, crystalline film.Broadcast News - iTee
Pretty good effort overall. I had never seen the film up to this point even though I had pulled it off the shelf countless times to wonder what a film would be like. On the positive side, this film is a '80s cinema. Though sometimes the mixing of these elements makes the whole affair interesting.
Member Reviews
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Sensational - zarusoba
If "Network" is American cinema's rusty cleaver to the hair gel behemoth of television news, "Broadcast News" is subtler yet more precise scalpel. By couching its satire in a well-constructed and entertaining romantic comedy, the film is able to humanize ...Broadcast News - iTee
Pretty good effort overall. I had never seen the film up to this point even though I had pulled it off the shelf countless times to wonder what a film would be like. On the positive side, this film is a '80s cinema. Though sometimes the mixing of these elements ...