The romantic comedy Broadcast News is directed by James L. Brooks and stars William Hurt, Albert Brooks, and Holly Hunter. The film takes place in a modern day Washington News Station.
Jane Craig (Hunter) is a news producer for a network television and despises the new trend of news stories being about entertainment rather than actual news. At the news station there are two reporters, Tom Grunick (Hurt) and Aaron Altman (Brooks), and both are very attracted to Jane Craig. Tom Grunick is an extremely handsome man but is all about style and Aaron Altman is an average looking guy but is very intelligent and funny. Jane Craig much determine which one she wants to date while the network is having a twenty-four million dollar budget cut where many jobs will be lost. Who will Jane choose, the style, or the substance? The screenplay by James L. Brooks was full of laughs and kept you wondering who Jane was going to be with until the very end. The characterization in this film was fantastic, I felt for all three of the leads and understood exactly what they were going through. Everyone hated Tom Grunick for being a stylish, entertaining guy but they all knew he was nice at heart. Everyone liked Aaron Altman but never gave him anything he ever wanted because he just didn't have the looks for the part. And everyone loved Jane Craig because she was organized, but crazy in her organization. Everything about this film was realistic. The only problem I had with this film was the ending, I disliked it so much I took a point off its rating.
James L. Brooks direction matched his writing in quality, making the film very entertaining and a fun watch. He succeeded in showing the stress of a network station's craziness during the filming of the news, and that is when all the best comedy came out. There was nothing too impressive shot wise with this film, even though Brooks knew how to get the audience attached to the characters through his shots as well, but that is hard to describe how he did that. Brooks got fantastic performances from all his leads, and that is the main reason this film is going to be remembered as one of the great comedies.
All three leads of this film received acting nominations at the Academy Awards. William Hurt received his for Best Actor and he deserved the nomination for the not too smart news caster with the good looks. Yet while being not too smart he was extremely likable and a character that I wanted to be happy at the end of the film. Some of Hurt's facial expressions were just great when they were extreme close ups on him, they just made him seem so sentimental and real. Albert Brooks received his nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and he provided many laughs the whole way through. But also he was a very deep, well constructed character that I also wanted to end up being happy. For both of them to be happy though they needed to be with Jane, and that just couldn't happen. Holly Hunter gave the strongest performance in the film and was nominated for Best Actress. She was perfect in being a frantic woman who just wanted some peace and a boyfriend that can make her happy when she got home. Her best acting was in the newsroom when she is screaming at people to get things done. The supporting cast of the film all gave good performances, especially a young Joan Cusack.
Overall I give this film a 7/10 because it is very entertaining and has a lot of funny moments in it. If the film had a better ending I would have given it an 8/10, but unfortunately it didn't. If you've never seen a good William Hurt or Holly Hunter film, this is one of the many to see. Both of them are fantastic and shine in this film. I recommend this also to anyone who likes romantic comedies, but not those corny stupid ones from today, this one is good.
Jane Craig (Hunter) is a news producer for a network television and despises the new trend of news stories being about entertainment rather than actual news. At the news station there are two reporters, Tom Grunick (Hurt) and Aaron Altman (Brooks), and both are very attracted to Jane Craig. Tom Grunick is an extremely handsome man but is all about style and Aaron Altman is an average looking guy but is very intelligent and funny. Jane Craig much determine which one she wants to date while the network is having a twenty-four million dollar budget cut where many jobs will be lost. Who will Jane choose, the style, or the substance? The screenplay by James L. Brooks was full of laughs and kept you wondering who Jane was going to be with until the very end. The characterization in this film was fantastic, I felt for all three of the leads and understood exactly what they were going through. Everyone hated Tom Grunick for being a stylish, entertaining guy but they all knew he was nice at heart. Everyone liked Aaron Altman but never gave him anything he ever wanted because he just didn't have the looks for the part. And everyone loved Jane Craig because she was organized, but crazy in her organization. Everything about this film was realistic. The only problem I had with this film was the ending, I disliked it so much I took a point off its rating.
James L. Brooks direction matched his writing in quality, making the film very entertaining and a fun watch. He succeeded in showing the stress of a network station's craziness during the filming of the news, and that is when all the best comedy came out. There was nothing too impressive shot wise with this film, even though Brooks knew how to get the audience attached to the characters through his shots as well, but that is hard to describe how he did that. Brooks got fantastic performances from all his leads, and that is the main reason this film is going to be remembered as one of the great comedies.
All three leads of this film received acting nominations at the Academy Awards. William Hurt received his for Best Actor and he deserved the nomination for the not too smart news caster with the good looks. Yet while being not too smart he was extremely likable and a character that I wanted to be happy at the end of the film. Some of Hurt's facial expressions were just great when they were extreme close ups on him, they just made him seem so sentimental and real. Albert Brooks received his nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and he provided many laughs the whole way through. But also he was a very deep, well constructed character that I also wanted to end up being happy. For both of them to be happy though they needed to be with Jane, and that just couldn't happen. Holly Hunter gave the strongest performance in the film and was nominated for Best Actress. She was perfect in being a frantic woman who just wanted some peace and a boyfriend that can make her happy when she got home. Her best acting was in the newsroom when she is screaming at people to get things done. The supporting cast of the film all gave good performances, especially a young Joan Cusack.
Overall I give this film a 7/10 because it is very entertaining and has a lot of funny moments in it. If the film had a better ending I would have given it an 8/10, but unfortunately it didn't. If you've never seen a good William Hurt or Holly Hunter film, this is one of the many to see. Both of them are fantastic and shine in this film. I recommend this also to anyone who likes romantic comedies, but not those corny stupid ones from today, this one is good.