Cheap Broadcast News (DVD) (William Hurt, Albert Brooks, Holly Hunter) (James L. Brooks) Price

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Customer Reviews of Broadcast News

THE PERFECT ARC
Broadcast News is one of those films that makes you feel like you've had a perfect meal. Its makes you feel content and grateful that a film could be so perfect. On the surface this is called a romantic-comedy, a genre muddied buy wittless trash like Picture Perfect but this film is as(for lack of a better word) deep as they come. Yes it is at times funny, but all three leads are very and even painfully real. Holly Hunter periodically disconnecting the phone, crying for a while and then giong back to work, sounds overtly cutsy, but as performed it somehow fits. Albert Brooks (in his best role) is a knock-out, he plays a reporter who is gifted/nuerotic/disposable and very much in love with Holly Hunter. He has this unforgettable speech about Tom(William Hurt) being the devil where he is "semi-serious" that manages to be over the top hilarious and unbearably sad. William Hurt, in his string of great 80s performance plays Tom, a man of low I.Q. but a deep understanding of life, he is the subject of Holly Hunters loathing and affection. These three set the stage for a perfect morality play, a realistic expose of life in network news, its politics and the cost career driven people have to pay. As a critique of network news, I liked this film better than Sidney Lumet's NETWORK becuase that film wet completely over the top in its final quarter, Broadcast News's approach on the other hand is through real characters that we can symphasise with. This is director James L.Brooks's best film. I can only count four he made, most recently As Good As It Gets.That film is just a lighthearted unrealistic if highly enjoyable comedy, and it does not nearly come close to the depth of this film. Broadcast News is a great film.

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A true, intelligent romantic comedy
Apart from sporting the most powerful newsroom dynamics since His Girl Friday, this film is a lasting account of the delicate balance between intelligence, power, and sexual attraction, and that manages to gently skewer the news industry at the same time.

It is a simple yet intelligent romantic comedy, held up by crisp witty dialogue and topnotch performances by Holly Hunter and William Hurt both at the top of their game. Albert Brooks was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of a TV reporter who wants to be an anchor (even Jack Nicholson and John Cusack in little know roles turn in a surprise guest performance).

One could speculate that this movie didn't walk away with any statuettes depite being nominated in several Oscar categories -- and this is my main gripe with the movie -- because the very interesting build-up did not really culminate into a very satisfying ending. Sort of leaves me wanting for something more everytime.

Nevertless, the bustle of the entire movie is definitely worth a ride, if only due to its convincing examination of the atavistic social obsession with physical appearance and its ultimate triumph over intellect as a valued human attribute (personified by the meteoric career success of William Hurt's character in contrast to Brookes relative decline). I have seen this movie about 11 times now, and I can still take it -- that is saying something.

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Very Funny!!
Being in the news business myself, I found this movie to be very funny. Some of the characters were actually characatures of some of the ego-driven, compulsive people I have met in the business. Brooks, Hunter and Hurt are the big three here and they work wonderfully together!!