Trumbo

 

Story:

After failing to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947, successful screenwriter Dalton Trumbo was blacklisted in Hollywood. This documentary details Trumbo's life through personal letters, interviews and archival footage. Well-known actors such as Joan Allen, Brian Dennehy, Paul Giamatti, David Strathairn, Donald Sutherland and others lend their voices to readings of Dalton Trumbo's personal letters. (Netflix)

Review:

You notice from the start with the documentary’s phenomenal cast, entertaining score and wide variety of footage, you’re in for something entertaining.

Like the short and bold title would suggest, this documentary is not just about one aspect of Trumbo's life but rather the film encapsulates his personal life, professional victories, and very public battle during the Red Scare, and it does this quite well in my opinion.  What's nice about the film, as the title screen's image of a shirtless Trumbo writing in his bathtub exemplifies, is you not only see the public footage of the man, nor will you just see the private arenas of his life, but you’ll also get to experience who he was through the man's own words and learn how he felt about his tribulations during the exact moments they were happening.

The film has a number of strong qualities but the most prominent one that helps pull the film together is the several scenes where actors recite Trumbo’s own letters he wrote to his family, friends, and others who fell into neither category.  The diverse cast including Michael Douglass and Paul Giamatti nicely presented different aspects and interpretations of Trubmo’s persona, showing a range of emotions that paint the titular writer as a bold man whose love of life and family knew no bounds.

The recitals did come off as a little too theatrical at times, and I understand this isn’t necessarily a negative for everyone.  I personally felt partially removed from the story when certain scenes played more like performance art than they should have.  Regardless of the level of histrionics, the scenes in question still represented an aspect of the documentary that was exemplary and something that strengthened the documentary significantly.  The great thing about these scenes regardless of how dramatic they are is the words were all really Trumbo’s own.  The speeches help widen the diversity of artifacts used in the film, adding a strong extra layer to go with the still photographs, interviews, and archive footage that comprise most documentaries.

One issue I had with the film was its timeline seemed to jump around in a less than realistic fashion.  The film talks of 1953's Roman Holiday, for instance, and then it moves on to discuss Congressional testimonies that took place in 1951.  While the non-linear timeline helps strengthen the story in spots, it was never explicitly mentioned that the documentary would be anything but a straight shot through Trumbo’s history.  This variation of the timeline could possibly (even if inadvertently) alter someone's view on how history happened.

Overall the documentary is anchored by a fantastic story that shows early on why it's important that you’re watching: Trumbo was not only an entertaining character but his letters and life experiences finely detailed an immensely interesting era of American history.  In addition to his great writings both public and private, the apex of his life in the public eye centered on a principled act in a situation where bold, noble causes were not often rewarded justly.  The exploration of this early 1950s conundrum offered the documentary a strong starting point which ultimately grew into the heart of the film.  The Congressional testimony at the time may have painted him as un-cooperative, his secret writings afterwards often showed him as a survivor, and this documentary presented him as a man whose life was much deeper than any branding could offer, and I for one think this is a documentary that is definitely worth your time.

Reviewed by Ryan Pollyea for Documentary Film Online on January 24, 2011

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