Based on the true story, Trumbo takes a fascinating subject and over simplifies him to make for an entertaining, but shallow experience.

Many might not recognize the name Dalton Trumbo, but if you are cinephile, you would recognize a lot of his work. He wrote the screenplays for such classics as Roman Holiday, The Brave One, and most famously, Spartacus. 

What makes him worthy for biopic adaptation, however, is that he was a communist during the height of the cold war and was blacklisted from working in Hollywood. Even though he was sent to prison and wasn’t able to sell anything with his name on it, he still wrote scripts under a different name and even won Academy Awards for his work. This certainly makes for an interesting premise for a film, and although Trumbo is certainly a fine film, it never approaches the greatness of its subject. 

The main appeal of the movie is that it focuses on a profession that is rarely shown in films, but is crucial to the process of making films work. Usually when a movie is about a movie it decides to focus on a director or star because those are the most interesting people making a movie. 

Trumbo focuses on one of the most famous and controversial screenwriters of all time, and although it makes for an entertaining movie, it slightly messes up on showing the audience what a screenwriter’s process is. There are multiple scenes of Dalton Trumbo working on scripts, but the audience never really understands the process outside of him just simply doing it. This is because there is so much story to cover and the result is surprisingly shallow.

The film also has the mistake of glossing over things while also jarringly jumping from one tone to another. One scene might have serious dramatic elements while the next might be a comedic romp, which would work in the hands of a fine director, but Jay Roach is sadly not up for the task. Best known for his comedic works like Meet the Parents and Austin Powers, Roach tries to balance comedy and drama but seemingly does not know how to do it.

Trumbo might be shallow and at times a tonal mess, but one thing that is strong from beginning to end is Bryan Cranston’s performance. Even though many see Cranston as one of Hollywood’s great actors, he is really only famous for his television performances (Breaking Bad and Malcolm in the Middle) as his film performances have been questionable at best (Rock of Ages and John Carter anyone?). 

It is not a stretch to say that this is the best acting ever seen by Cranston in a movie. Other films might just use Cranston for his iconic mannerisms seen in his other works, but Trumbo allows him to show his range. Cranston is captivating every second he is on screen and certainly makes up for many of Trumbo’s flaws.

Overall, there are certainly worse biopics than Trumbo, but it is somewhat sad to see someone who was so influential to the movie industry get a shallow film. Cranston gives everything he’s got and is certainly award worthy like his subject, but the film itself barely gets a pass.

GRADE: B-