Trumbo

That a hagiography of a vocal Communist should claim an Oscar nomination testifies how far to the left Hollywood and America have moved. Trumbo, a biopic now out on DVD about an A-list screenwriter blacklisted during the 1950s (rated R for four-letter words and seminudity), glosses over its subject with clumsy, broad-brush strokes and caricatured villains.

Plot: The House Un-American Activities Committee grills the once-rich and successful Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston, nominated for a best actor Oscar) and nine other Hollywood creatives about their Communist Party membership. Trumbo, citing the First Amendment, refuses to answer and goes to jail for contempt of Congress. After his release, the martyr returns to an industry that has turned its back on him, so Trumbo feeds his family by mass-producing cheap scripts under pseudonyms along with two Oscar-winning movies, Roman Holiday and The Brave One—and he watches the trophy go to someone else on TV.

Director Jay Roach focuses on worthy themes: an intense political climate, a family doggedly enduring the sometimes-hypocritical ideals of an obstinate, theatrical radical, and subtle ideological disagreements that turn allies into enemies.

But Trumbo has scenes like this: When the writer’s daughter asks him if she’s a Communist too, he asks her: “If a schoolmate has no lunch, what would you do?” Daughter: “Share.” Trumbo: “Share? Well, you don’t tell them to just go get a job? Oh, you offer them a loan at 6 percent! ... No? Ah, then you just ignore them?” Daughter: “No!” Trumbo, chuckling: “Oh, you little Commie.” His daughter beams.

The film also fails to mention Trumbo’s strong opposition to U.S. entry into World War II (until Hitler broke the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and invaded the Soviet Union in 1941) and Trumbo’s work to keep Hollywood from producing anti-Communist films prior to the blacklists.

Cranston, best known for his brilliant role in Breaking Bad, probably deserves an Oscar at some point, but it’s perhaps best he did not win one for a cheap, clunky award-bait film like Trumbo.