Tags
Albert Brooks, Broadcast News, Comedy, Drama, Holly Hunter, Jack Nicholson, Joan Cusack, Movie, Robert Prosky, Romance, William Hurt
flop sweat
R
Holly Hunter, William Hurt, Albert Brooks, Joan Cusack, Robert Prosky, Jack Nicholson
Tom: What do you do when your real life exceeds your dreams?
Aaron: Keep it to yourself.
A producer, Jane (Hunter), and a top reporter, Aaron (Brooks), at a TV news station fight against the dumbing down of the news as budget cuts to the station loom. Meanwhile, a new reporter, Tom (Hurt), has been hired, without having the experience or qualifications for the job. Despite him embodying everything Jane hates, she finds herself attracted to Tom, much to the chagrin of Aaron, who happens to be in love with Jane.
This may have been my first time watching this movie all the way through from start to finish, even though I’ve seen most of it many times before.
This is what good writing looks like. Clever, insightful, real, romantic, etc, etc. Plus, we get three great lead performances from Hurt, Hunter, and Brooks. Normally William Hurt doesn’t impress me much in movies, but he’s just right for the underqualified Tom. He’s not a moron. He’s just not trained to do the job he’s been hired for. He was hired for his looks and his ability to speak well on television. This angers Jane and Aaron because it’s symptomatic of the fact that the news is turning into entertainment rather than being informational.
Holly Hunter pretty much rules this movie. She is the chaotic center that everything else revolves around, and I can’t imagine any other actress pulling off this character the way she does. How did she not win an Oscar for this? For that matter, how did this movie not win ANY Oscars? I guess I’d have to take a look at the competition in 1987.
As good as Hunter and Hurt are, Albert Brooks is the reason I love this movie. The guy just knows how to make me laugh. He has one great line after another and delivers them all perfectly. Plus, the scene where he finally gets to anchor the weekend news and suffers a terrible case of “flop sweat” is an all time classic.
You don’t have to be interested in the news or TV in general to enjoy this movie. The romantic story and the comedy are enough for me to recommend it to anyone.
Stick with what you’re good at. Don’t strive for a higher position just because you think you deserve it.
10 – .7 for a few lapses into silliness/contrivance – .4 because I’ve never been too crazy about the final “seven years later” sequence = 8.9
A lot of alliterations from anxious anchors placed in powerful posts!
For the record it had seven nominations and was shut out of the 60th Academy Awards. The nominations were for best actor, actress, supporting actor, cinematography, film editing, best picture and best original screenplay. They lost to, in order, Michael Douglass (Wall Street), Cher (Moonstruck), Sean Connery (The Untouchables), The Last Emperor, The Last Emperor, The Last Emperor and Moonstruck.
Just FYI, for best actor, Jack Nicholson and Robin Williams (for Good Morning Vietnam) also lost. Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman were just nominated for supporting actor. Glen Close and Meryl Streep both lost to Cher. Empire of the Sun was up for best cinematography and lost. It was also up for film editing along with Robocop, and lost. Best Picture nominees also included Hope and Glory, Fatal Attraction and Moonstruck.
So, yeah…. a good year at the movies, but I agree this should have won a couple!
Oh, and I sort of agree with you about William Hurt…. but I did enjoy him in several movies (Accidental Tourist, Until the End of the World, Dark City, A.I., A History of Violence…) … but I know what you mean… he was also the dad in Lost in Space, so….
Wasn’t crazy about this the first time I saw it, but I feel like I must have been in a funk or something that day because I keep hearing great things. Good review, I generally dig Hurt even though he seems like he’d be a dick in real life, gonna give this one another shot.
Great picture of Albert Brooks. That has to be one of the funniest scenes ever. I’m very fond of this film due to my man crush on Brooks and especially Hurt.